Fly Away with Hostess Fruit Pies!

January 1978

The Secret Society of Super-Villains #12

You guys are in for a real treat this week, because I’ve got Hostess Fruit Pies for you! Back when I did my very first post, I had no idea that Hostess had actually done a huge series of comic-style ads featuring popular comic characters.

So, maybe I’m overthinking this, but why would the Penguin use cuckoo clocks to steal money rather than just regular birds? Seems to me that he’s just adding extra complication with the clocks.

 

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Help Support Comic Book Ads with Amazon!

Big news, everyone! Now you can help support Comic Book Ads by clicking on my link whenever you shop at Amazon! It won’t cost you anything extra, but it’ll give me a small percentage of everything you spend (which I would really, really appreciate!).

As of right now, it only works for Amazon’s U.S. site, but depending on how things go, I might set it up for Canada and the U.K. as well.

Also, I’m currently working my way through all my old posts to add the link. I’ve gotten the most recent ones, but it might be a while before I get to some of the older ones.

Anyway, I hope you’ll think of Comic Book Ads the next time you shop at Amazon!

Thank you!

Defeat Thanos With Your Game Controller!

January 1998

Thunderbolts #10

I guess back in the day I was still too busy with my Mortal Kombat 3 to realize that this game was around, because I certainly don’t remember it! Apparently this was a predecessor to all the Marvel vs Capcom games.

Something that’s pretty cool (and pretty timely) about this game is that it loosely follows the Infinity Gauntlet story line – all the characters are fighting to get the Infinity Stones, and eventually defeat Thanos. One thing that sounds pretty cool about this game is that once characters obtain an Infinity Stone, they also get a special move/power related to that stone.

So I guess this means there’s no need to wait for the next Avengers movie – just play this game to see how it all turns out!

 

Do you enjoy reading Comic Book Ads? If so, please consider supporting me by clicking here for my Amazon link – I’ll get a percentage from everything you order! Thanks!

Actually, It’s a JPEG

May 1986

Masters Of The Universe #1

Unscramble the letters? But the first one is already a perfectly cromulent word: GIF! Could this possibly be the first-ever use in print of that term??

Just for fun, I looked up anagrams for the rest of them. It turns out that “apple” can be rearranged to “pepla,” which is the plural of “peplum,” which is essentially a type of toga, so… toga-flavored Newtons! I couldn’t find any good anagrams for “cherry,” but for blueberry, take your pick: beery blur, blurry bee, burly beer, lube berry, or rubber lye (or several other options, but the ones listed seemed like the best)! Hmm… given those options, I think I’d have to go with lube berry…

I’ve always thought that choosing fig as their go-to flavor was kind of an odd move. I did a little research, and I found a little info on its origin (apparently eating fruit and biscuits were considered good for health, and this was a convenient solution that included both), I couldn’t find any info on why figs specifically were chosen over other flavors that may have been more popular/appealing. Maybe figs were just “in” back in the 1890s?

I was actually surprised at just how little information seems to be out there on such an iconic snack – even from the brand’s own website! We all know that fig is the original flavor, and according to an ad I posted earlier, apple had already been introduced by 1985. This ad introduces cherry and blueberry, so we know those were new for 1985/’86. Apparently the current fruit lineup is: fig, blueberry, strawberry, and mixed berry. So I’m not sure at what point apple and cherry disappeared, or when strawberry and mixed berry were introduced (and I’m sure no one besides me really cares anyway!).

 

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I LUV You, Monogram Models!

January 1978

The Secret Society of Super-Villains #12

Ah, the ’70s – back when you didn’t need fancy names for all your different models of cars.

Chevy Executive 1: “Hey, what should we call this new van we’re making?”

Chevy Executive 2: “What about… THE CHEVY VAN!?”

Chevy Executive 1: “That’s PERFECT!”

So after looking it up, I learned that LUV stands for “light utility vehicle,” which makes sense, but I still find it kind of funny that a pickup truck (normally marketed toward tough, rugged, manly men) would have “LUV” (something I normally associate with those terrible, chalky conversation heart candies) painted in big letters on the side.

 

Do you enjoy reading Comic Book Ads? If so, please consider supporting me by clicking here for my Amazon link – I’ll get a percentage from everything you order! Thanks!