This Canon print ad from 1984 celebrates the beauty of wildlife photography and long form copy advertising.
Back in the day when people had longer attention spans and weren’t doing several hundred things a minute, long copy ads were the norm – case in point, this Canon print ad that Reddit user MoBeydoun discovered in the pages of a National Geographic magazine from 1984 and shared on the r/Cameras subreddit.
Older print ads are a far cry from their modern counterparts, no matter what the product they were selling. In place of the snappy one-liners we’re so used to seeing today are well-written copies that were so long, they’re practically short articles themselves. They weren’t long-winded, hard sell ramblings about the product, too. More often than not, they tell actual stories or paint a scenario that, at first glance, you might think is not even related to the product or brand.
In this instance, the ad itself featured the Canon F-1 35mm camera and FD 150-600mm f5.6L super telephoto lens, a great combination for wildlife photography.
The Canon F-1 was first marketed in March 1971 and “was built to endure 100,000 picture-taking cycles, temperatures ranging from -30 C to 60 C, and 90% humidity.” Durable and reliable, the camera gained a following among professionals.
Meanwhile, the Canon FD 150-600mm f5.6L is “the first SLR camera zoom lens in the world to use an inner focusing system for focal adjustments.” So, naturally, the Canon ad showcased a compelling photograph of the Philippine tarsier, today a Near Threatened species, credited to Johnny Raymond T. Cabreira.
The accompanying copy shaped the narrative of the ad: that photography can not only help record threatened species like the tarsier and their disappearing habitats, it can also help save them.
Part of the ad read:
Photography is an invaluable research tool that can help scientists learn more about the tarsier’s behavior in its natural habitat. Photography can also assist in gathering the information needed to ensure the survival of the Philippine tarsier and help promote a better understanding of this enchanting but little-known primate.
And understanding is perhaps the single most important factor in saving the Philippine tarsier and all of wildlife.
Indeed, photography is a powerful tool that goes beyond documentation, especially when used to push a meaningful case. If only we have more of these ads today.
Scan of Canon print ad via Reddit user MoBeydoun and used here with permission