[jtkratzer]

Found a copy of the "British Journal of Photography Annual 1972" 113th edition in average condition.
Cover



The Annual has some interesting sections and as it is from a time that still had a lot of B&W photography a large percentage of the images are in that medium. 130pages of pictures, 60 plus pages of articles, 28 pages of chemical processing formulae and lots of full page advertisements. Articles include "The Photographer and the Natural World" by Robert McLelland, A review of "State of the Art" (as at 1972) of several aspects of photography and a History of Japanese Photography. Good stuff.

Three of the full page ads are below:

For Nikon collectors



For German SLR collectors



And for the Pentax collectors:



Good value for $8.

Looks like a very interesting read.

[Jonathan Mac]

Found a copy of the "British Journal of Photography Annual 1972" 113th edition in average condition.
Cover

The Annual has some interesting sections and as it is from a time that still had a lot of B&W photography a large percentage of the images are in that medium. 130pages of pictures, 60 plus pages of articles, 28 pages of chemical processing formulae and lots of full page advertisements. Articles include "The Photographer and the Natural World" by Robert McLelland, A review of "State of the Art" (as at 1972) of several aspects of photography and a History of Japanese Photography. Good stuff.

Three of the full page ads are below:

For Nikon collectors

For German SLR collectors

And for the Pentax collectors:

Good value for $8.

That's an unusual sales pitch for the Nikkormat - convincing the reader to settle for second best. You wouldn't see anything like that now.

[aslyfox]

some of us are old enough to remember this ad series ( although I was far too young to drive )

" In 1962, Avis was in search of a new advertising campaign. Since its inception, the car rental company had trailed behind the market leader, Hertz. So the ad agency Doyle Dane Bernbach decided to embrace Avis’ second-place status as a sneaky way to tout the brand’s customer service. “When you’re only No. 2, you try harder,” went the new tagline. “Or else.”

The “We Try Harder” ads were an instant hit. Within a year, Avis went from losing $3.2 million to earning $1.2 million—the first time it had been profitable in more than a decade. From 1963 to 1966, as Hertz ignored the Avis campaign, the market-share percentage gap between the two brands shrunk from 61–29 to 49–36. Terrified Hertz executives projected that by 1968 Avis might need a new ad campaign—because it would no longer be No. 2. "

Hertz vs. Avis advertising wars: How an ad firm made a virtue out of second place.

[jeallen01]

some of us are old enough to remember this ad series ( although I was far too young to drive )

" In 1962, Avis was in search of a new advertising campaign. Since its inception, the car rental company had trailed behind the market leader, Hertz. So the ad agency Doyle Dane Bernbach decided to embrace Avis’ second-place status as a sneaky way to tout the brand’s customer service. “When you’re only No. 2, you try harder,” went the new tagline. “Or else.”

The “We Try Harder” ads were an instant hit. Within a year, Avis went from losing $3.2 million to earning $1.2 million—the first time it had been profitable in more than a decade. From 1963 to 1966, as Hertz ignored the Avis campaign, the market-share percentage gap between the two brands shrunk from 61–29 to 49–36. Terrified Hertz executives projected that by 1968 Avis might need a new ad campaign—because it would no longer be No. 2. "

Hertz vs. Avis advertising wars: How an ad firm made a virtue out of second place.

Around 2000-2001 In Europe (or, at least, in the UK) Skoda (then, a relatively recent acquisition of the VAG empire) did something quite "similar" because its older cars had a bad reputation and were the butt of many "jokes" (e.g. "What's a Skoda's rear screen heater for? Answer "To keep your hands warm when you are pushing it!"). Skoda then started a self-effacing ad campaign which got lots of laughs, and over the years since then Skoda has built up a reputation for making extremely good cars at "affordable" prices (In fact, the brand is now in the upper-middle of the VAG empire's "pecking order", rather than being right at the bottom).

I have an Octavia ("Octy") II Estate, and when I bought it (used) SWMBO was very dismissive of it as she had wanted me to buy a VW Mk V Golf Estate - but those were smaller, less well equipped and more expensive. A year or two later, when she had come to accept that the Octy is actually a very good car, I asked her something like "If, when I bought the car, it had had a VW badge on it, would that have been OK?" The reply was "Yes"

[WPRESTO]

Alas, clever advertising that becomes iconic doesn't always mean a sales boom. Does everyone know the product promoted by these ad-lines;

"I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"
"Mamma Mia, that's some spicy meatball." ( I actually think the ad used the now not PC "that'sa..."

And if those two don't instantly bring the product to mind, how about:
"Plop! Plop! Fizz! Fizz!"

[aslyfox]

yes

I remembered the product without looking it up

Alka Seltzer

pop pop oh what a relief it is - Bing video

[monochrome]

Alas, clever advertising that becomes iconic doesn't always mean a sales boom. Does everyone know the product promoted by these ad-lines;

"I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"
"Mamma Mia, that's some spicy meatball." ( I actually think the ad used the now not PC "that'sa..."

And if those two don't instantly bring the product to mind, how about:
"Plop! Plop! Fizz! Fizz!"

At the time of those campaigns (or just after then) I was employed by Land ‘O Lakes Dairy Foods. You would not believe how many boxes of Alia-Selzer were stacked up on end-aisle displays by sales reps like me who worked for them at the time. Contrary to your contention, sales doubled twice over 5 years as consumers who had never bought the product added a box to their medicine cabinets. Tie-ins* with frozen Pizza (a new product at the time) helped, as Did spaghetti co-op add tie-ins.

Eventually sales fizzled though.

* RE: Hertz / Avis, at the height of the ‘We Try Harder’ meme I recall a Mad Magazine cover showing a Hertz Guy and an Avis guy shaking hands with an evil grin.

#1? #2? Who Cares. We killed #3, #4 and #5.

[WPRESTO]

As you were employed by Land-'O-Lakes:

"It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."

Although I do not recall which brand of margarine came up with that line.

ADDENDUM: Just checked. It was Chiffon margarine.

[ChrisPlatt]

That's an unusual sales pitch for the Nikkormat - convincing the reader to settle for second best. You wouldn't see anything like that now.

Later Nikon reconsidered this strategy and began branding all camera model lines Nikon.

Back then I recall British advertising was rather low-key and often struck me as almost apologetic in tone.
Of course I was used to American ads which were - and still are - often quite brash and over-the-top.

Chris

[LeDave]

Peak Designs Slide Summit Edition, seriously the best strap I've ever used. Much better than Black Rapid in my opinion.

[th1952]

Alas, clever advertising that becomes iconic doesn't always mean a sales boom. Does everyone know the product promoted by these ad-lines;

"I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"
"Mamma Mia, that's some spicy meatball." ( I actually think the ad used the now not PC "that'sa..."

And if those two don't instantly bring the product to mind, how about:
"Plop! Plop! Fizz! Fizz!"

Wow...I haven't heard or thought about those in years...

[timw4mail]

ShopGoodWill lot (the good stuff that works):

• Vivitar Auto 2600 Flash
• Phoenix P1 (K mount Cosina body)
• Phoenix 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8 (Kit lens for the P1)
• Optivision 55mm Camera

[pepperberry farm]

Peak Designs Slide Summit Edition, seriously the best strap I've ever used. Much better than Black Rapid in my opinion.

I don't have the Summit Edition, but I would not trade my Slides for love or money - they are seriously good...

[WPRESTO]

I recently purchased some Peak Design items, including a "slide" strap. The latter is impressive, a bit on the massive side, but exceptionally well made. What I wanted and like is their quick-release mechanism for removing the strap, or any strap with the proper Peak Design produc). I use tripods a good deal and a strap can be annoying when the camera is so mounted. I have not used the device very much as yet, but testing to learn how it works suggests it is a reliably strong, easy to operate design. Kudos to Peak Design for finding a better way to make an ancient product.

[carlthellama]

ShopGoodWill lot (the good stuff that works):

• Vivitar Auto 2600 Flash
• Phoenix P1 (K mount Cosina body)
• Phoenix 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8 (Kit lens for the P1)
• Optivision 55mm Camera

I love the idea of shopgoodwill.com bit the prices are basically retail when all is said an done.