by conventional rule. With the aplomb of Ignatz Mouse tossing a brick at
Krazy Kat, continuity and comic strips have impudently tossed aside
advertising tradition, become legitimate and frequently astonishingly
effective expressions... .”
Despite mass appeal and financial success, critics railed against
comics, and serious advertising men deplored the comics’ frivolity, childish
escape, and otherwise degraded standards. Certain advertisers believed that
the comic strip craze marked the nadir of an honorable profession, a
catering to mindlessness. Despite advancements in advertising media, the
Great Depression ultimately caused advertisers to try any scheme to sell
their wares. “The cumulative effect of a decade of radio had crushed the
vision of advertising as a broad educational force that would lift consumers
to higher aesthetic tastes and intellectual pursuits,” wrote Roland
Marchard.
The critics could not, however, squelch the comics frenzy and were
forced into the realization that the American people were not interested in
high-brow advertising techniques. The consumer wanted a message that
could be quickly and easily understood. The comic strip may have erred on
the side of puerility, but until the mid- 1950 s, when television stole its
thunder, comic strip ads were a mainstay of American advertising.
tuis.
(Tuis.)
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