Something occurred to me while reading Wolverine and The X-Men this week: Almost ad in the book is for a Marvel product. Of the nine ad pages in the issue, only two aren’t Marvel related, and those are a double-page spread for Harley-Davidson motorcycles. It’s not just this book, either; last week’s Fear Itself #7 had ten ad pages (Eleven, if you could the “Follow…” page pointing to the epilogue books), and only one wasn’t Marvel related – and even that was for a Disney sibling, ABC’s Once Upon A Time.
DC is doing slightly better; looking at The Flash #2 from this week, I count six ad pages – twelve, if you include the Batman: Noel preview – and four aren’t DC-related. That said, two of those are interesting; one is for syndication of The Big Bang Theory, which is a Warner Bros. sibling show (DC and WB are doing a cross-promotion for that show in comic stores, I think?), and another is for the IFC show Onion News Network, which is one of the shows that ran DC New 52 advertising before the relaunch last month, which makes me wonder if there was some kind of ad-swap going on at some point (BBC America ads used to run in DC books when the channel was running TV ads for the Vertigo line, earlier this year, as well).
So is outside advertising down in comic books in general, or is this an oddly coincidental blip that I’ve noticed? And if it is down, would bringing in more advertising help lower the cost of the comics themselves – assuming, of course, that the DM provides the right audience for advertisers to want to reach?
October 28th, 2011 at 11:53 am
It was Marvel policy for a while that if you wanted to make licensed products with the characters, you had to in turn purchase ad space in Marvel books, which lead to basically every ad in the books to be generic “MARVEL SLEEPWEAR” or “MARVEL EDUCATIONAL TOYS” ads for a long time. Basically, if it wasn’t a centerfold, or cover related ad, it was one of these Marvel License buy-in ads.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Hi, could that first paragraph be reviewed? I had trouble understanding it:
“Something occurred to me while reading Wolverine and The X-Men this week: Almost ad in the book is for a Marvel product. ”
I have no clue what that second sentence is suppose to mean.
“It’s not just this book, either; last week’s Fear Itself #7 had ten ad pages (Eleven, if you could the “Follow…” page pointing to the epilogue books), and only one wasn’t Marvel related – and even that was for a Disney sibling, ABC’s Once Upon A Time.”
I’m guessing parenthetical part of the sentence here meant “Eleven, if you [count] the “Follow…” page pointing…”.
October 28th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
I actually noticed this almost immediately after the economy tanked, maybe mid-late 09, really suddenly almost every ad in Marvel was either a house ad or a licensed Marvel product…
October 28th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
@Ken- Graeme is not good for proof reading or making sense usually. Also he rarely can create a headline that is not a question. I’m guessing Journalism was not a college major or English a requirement at his high school.
October 28th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
So….what WAS GRIT? And, where did it go?
October 28th, 2011 at 11:06 pm
Grit was a national newspaper that focused on rural America. It still exists as a bimonthly magazine aimed at farmers. Here’s a page from their website telling the history: http://www.grit.com/grit-history.aspx
Grit ads were commonplace in comics of the 70s and 80s.
October 29th, 2011 at 7:21 pm
The Grit ads, the Charles Atlas ads, the Hostess snack ads that were mini DC comics with the heroes somehow saving the day with the add of a fruit pie or other tasty treat, Sea Monkeys, x-ray specs… Those are the comics ads I miss in today’s floppies.
Anyone up for some “Street Ball” with Rick Barry and Dr. J?
October 30th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
Hey there Shaun,
I will join you for a game but only if you are wearing Dingo Boots and we can invite O.J. Simpson along!