Nikon's Greatest Ad circa 1987 ?

Karl K

Subscriber
Joined
Jan 13, 2006
Messages
1,100
Location
NJ
Format
35mm
Why don't camera manufacturers create great ads anymore?
Is it the Internet?
Lack of creativity?

As an ex-advertising guy (Minolta, Yashica, Cosina, Petri), I still take notice of the most creative camera ads, those that compel you to run down to your local camera shop to play with the newest goodies.

Alas, nowadays, there are very few local camera shops and very few of these great ads.

Here, for your viewing pleasure, the introductory ad for the Nikon N4004 in 1987.
There's only one problem: the camera is pictured 'way too large.
 

Attachments

  • Nikon Stooge and Einstein.jpg
    164 KB · Views: 668

zsas

Member
Joined
May 12, 2011
Messages
1,955
Location
Chicago, IL
Format
35mm RF
Possibly the target market are better found by marketing elsewhere than magazines (eg fancy YouTube "docu-marketing-metaries" and other media, Twitter, FB, etc). I bought my wife a modern camera and found "marketing" all over when doing a simple google of what I'd possibly find her....can't say their quality was bad marketing either...
 

PtJudeRI

Member
Joined
May 23, 2011
Messages
103
Format
Multi Format
Great Ad. I had one of those cameras years back. Wonder where it went to, hmmm...
 

elekm

Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2004
Messages
2,055
Location
New Jersey (
Format
35mm RF
desertratt said:
Those two fellows were small persons, the one on the left having been slapped down over the years and the other guy -- well according to him everything is relative anyway.
Click to expand...

I think the guy on the left did most of the slapping. He really put the "slap" into "slapstick comedy."

I read his autobiography in the 1990s. He had an interesting story. Moe had a great arm -- and aim -- and threw nearly every pie in those shorts that he and other "stooges" made.

Here's Moe demonstrating his pie throwing technique on the Mike Douglas show.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

ArtO

Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2008
Messages
260
Location
Florida
Format
Multi Format
That's a wonderful ad. It would certainly get me to read the copy.
 

whowantstoast

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2011
Messages
63
Location
Fresno, CA
Format
Medium Format
Just pick up any of the glossy photo magazines - they're chock full o' ads. I have more trouble finding actual content. Trouble is, as a fellow advertising guy, the ads aren't clever any more. They're very technical, and they cater to digital gas.
 

removed-user-1

It seems to me that cameras these days are advertised primarily with the "this one goes to 11" mentality in mind. It's not clever at all.
 

fstop

Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2011
Messages
1,119
Format
35mm
I think there was more creativity back then.

Certainly more humor.
 

Chele

Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
Messages
9
Format
35mm
Many years ago, Nikon had an ad that said "The difficult, we do right away. The impossible, takes a little bit longer", or something to that effect. I was looking for it but couldn't find it, to me it's one of the best ads I have ever seen! And I'm a Canon kind of guy.
 

Mick Fagan

Subscriber
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Messages
4,412
Location
Melbourne Au
Format
Multi Format
Agx, from memory I understand that that picture was taken with an extraordinary Leica telephoto lens manufactured for Leni Riefenstahl for the 72 Olympics.

The story went something like this:- this was her first commission for stills photography at an Olympic games and she told Leica I need a long fast lens, which Leica did not have. So they made one to her specifications, more or less, I believe it may have been an 800mm f/5.6.

That particular lens, and I believe there was only one made and enough spare parts to fix the front end if it was dropped, was then used around the world for special events or things. This would come under that category and Jay Maisel is the kind of photographer who could utilise the strengths of a very long lens to compress like he has obviously done.

Any thoughts?

Mick.
 

Mike Crawford

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
614
Location
London, UK
Format
Medium Format
I notice most camera adverts these days have a boring looking DSLR against black with a bunch of copy. Not too exciting.

In the UK, I think the best ads were not in print but on TV in the 70s and 80s for Olympus Cameras with David Bailey and George Cole. (Famous British actor much loved for playing slightly dodgy geezers, especially in the TV series Minder.) Here's a few.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWlj9ZJkliA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Yo3FRPeQw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckSm10LZauA

Don't think it worked so well with Eric Idle though. Bailey looks more like Dudley Moore!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvKgqIby3uk
 

JimCee

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Messages
77
Location
Tucson, Ariz
Format
35mm
Nikon best F3 Advertisement Ever?....

I my opinion this advertisement of a Nikon F3, battered and worn, resting on a map of a remote area of the world, is the best ever...

Jim
 

lxdude

Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2009
Messages
7,094
Location
Redlands, So
Format
Multi Format
I just want to add- that Nikon F3 ad is a newer iteration of an 70's Nikon Ad with an F2, a map of Burma, eyeglasses, tumbler of booze, etc.
 

chip j

Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2012
Messages
2,193
Location
NE Ohio
Format
35mm
I like the Nikon ads of the 60s--"Today there's almost no other choice"--picturing various components of the F in sterling black & white.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…