This French advertisement for Kodak Gold 200 35mm film is older than I am, and it’s hilarious!
1987 may not be a year many of you think of often if you were around for it, or at all if you are like me and weren’t even born yet. 1987 may not be the height of Kodak and film in general, but it was certainly during the golden age of film. Digital cameras were still a long way off for the consumer realm, let alone ones that had people choosing digital over film.
Before you go on, please note that this ad mocks street photography…sort of. It’s more silly and crazy, but you can totally see how people may get offended or at least weirded out. On the other hand, just imagine if you did this today. I’m not sure about you, but I’m not quite confident in my ability to walk down Times Square dressed up and taking photos of people for funsies with Kodak Gold. It would be pretty hilarious!
This 1987 Ad for Kodak, from French Director Jean Baptiste Mondino, was the Gold Award winning French advertisement during 1987. This was basically, more or less, tagged as the best French advertisement of 1987. The ad seems to mock street photography and paparazzi, and illustrates three camera toting criminals stealing the color from various objects people are enjoying.
The Ad is clearly supposed to imply that the colors in Kodak Gold 200, which was the film being advertised, were vibrant and almost ‘pulled from reality’. This was a top notch ad in 1987 while Kodak was at the height of it’s power, yet in many ways it’s funny that the ad also pokes so much satirical fun at the very people it is advertising to.
Thanks to Mike for sharing this tip with us.