Friday, December 29, 2017

“If You Drink – Don’t Drive” Ads Through the Years

New Year’s Eve is only a few days away, so long-time readers of this blog know it’s time for another one of those gruesome “Don’t Drink & Drive” full-page ads that ran in the Journal.

They usually featured the Grim Reaper, or perhaps a car wreck illustration like the one at right. The ads also included a list of sponsors that provide a nice snapshot of Lorain businesses at the time.

The only problem is, I’ve been doing this so long that I’ve used up a lot of ads from the years that these things ran. So I really had to dig around on microfilm to find one I hadn’t posted before.

Scraping the bottom of the barrel, I found a few ads – but the problem is, most of them aren’t very scary.

Here’s the 1953 version (below). The ad’s message seems to be at odds with the illustrations of the partygoers holding drinks.

The ad from 1957 (below) could be considered a little scary, since it features a policeman. 
But he looks a little too kindly to be truly threatening.
The ad that ran in 1959 (below) might be considered scary today, depicting a creepy clown with his face frozen in maniacal laughter. But he still looks he’d be right at home on a 1950s box of Kellogg’s Sugar Smacks.
Finally, the 1967 edition is a little more like it – with the Grim Reaper himself doing a little bartendering.
Here’s hoping you have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve, and a great 2018!

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