Nikon's Greatest Ad circa 1987 ?

[Karl K]

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.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

That was great!

Jeff

 

[zsas]

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]

Great Ad. I had one of those cameras years back. Wonder where it went to, hmmm...

 

[elekm]

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.

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.

 

[ArtO]

That's a wonderful ad. It would certainly get me to read the copy.

 

[whowantstoast]

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.

 

[Weasel_Loader]

The Nikon N4004s was my first 35mm camera. Cool ad.

 

[fstop]

I think there was more creativity back then.

Certainly more humor.

 

[AgX]

"Freedom made by Leica" 1991

 

[Chele]

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]

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]

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

 

[Chan Tran]

I guess you need to design a good looking camera first

 

[JimCee]

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]

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]

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.