The World's First TV Commercial

I'm fascinated by facts like this. What is so very normal for us today was once new, unusual and kind of a wonder.

Now we have DVRs to record our favorite shows (and bypass annoying commercials) but back in the early days of television commercials were extremely rare.

According to Ad Age, this was likely the first TV commercial to ever air - a :10 second image with a simple voiceover saying "America runs on Bulova time."

"Evidence is mounting that [TV] will gain little headway for 'the duration,'" Ad Age wrote in June 1941 following the FCC's approval of commercial TV.

The next month, on July 1, Bulova aired what's considered the first TV commercial. The grainy, shaky, 10-second spot ran during an afternoon Dodgers-Phillies game on NBC-owned WNBT. There's a simple outline of the then-48 states splashed with the face of a Bulova watch. A voiceover from pioneering announcer Ray Forrest (re-enacted in the version above) says: "America runs on Bulova."

The commercial cost Bulova about $4 and at best was seen by just a few thousand people who owned a TV set in the New York market where it aired.

(h/t JMG)

One Million Moms Has A Cow Over Carls Jr's "Tex Mex" Commercial

From the constantly concernstipated One Million Moms (who are really more like about 40,000):

Will Hardee’s ever learn? They are at it again with another disgusting ad. Their current sensual ad follows the pattern set by their last commercial featuring girls in skimpy shorts playing in a volleyball game. These ads are extremely degrading to women and should be pulled off the air immediately. The restaurant’s most recent ad shows scantily clad models licking sauce in provocative poses. 1MM has had enough of CKE’s soft porn ads!

(h/t JMG)