Sunday, August 4, 2013

First TV commercial, circa 1941


Yes, Virginia, the Russians didn't have the first TV commercial. That dubious honor goes to WNBT-TV in New York and the Bulova Watch Company. See it here.


Bulova paid $9.00, yes, nine dollars, to air this promotion one time before a Dodgers-Phillies baseball game on July 1, 1941.

If this doesn't make you hanker for the good old days, you might need a medication adjustment.

I haven't watched TV for several years now, except for the occasional State of the Union message and maybe a Super Bowl or two. Too bad the spirit of the old Bulova Watch Company's marketing department is dead and gone….

(By the way, British television viewers weren't treated to their first TV ad -- for Gibbs toothpaste --  until 1955….)




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