• On the 40-year-old pages of local papers are some smug-looking children drawn in comic-like form and smirking at a head lice medicine called “DDT Emulsion”, which promises to kill “the tiny creatures”.
    On the 40-year-old pages of local papers are some smug-looking children drawn in comic-like form and smirking at a head lice medicine called “DDT Emulsion”, which promises to kill “the tiny creatures”.
  • This was an age when almost anything could be advertised in the newspaper.
    This was an age when almost anything could be advertised in the newspaper.
  • Persuading customers to part with their dirhams 40 years ago reflected an era of marketing that today seems sexist, less conservative and with much looser standards.
    Persuading customers to part with their dirhams 40 years ago reflected an era of marketing that today seems sexist, less conservative and with much looser standards.
  • Arabic-language newspaper tended to give more space to car advertisements, including Datsun – “the best of what Japan makes” – along with Toyota, Lancer, Dodge and BMW.
    Arabic-language newspaper tended to give more space to car advertisements, including Datsun – “the best of what Japan makes” – along with Toyota, Lancer, Dodge and BMW.
  • An advert from Volvo
    An advert from Volvo
  • What was acceptable in a UAE in 1974 looks strange and sometimes inappropriate in 2014.
    What was acceptable in a UAE in 1974 looks strange and sometimes inappropriate in 2014.
  • “Press advertisements had generally poor design values in the 1970s,” says Alex Brown, chief executive of All About Brands, an Abu Dhabi creative communications agency.
    “Press advertisements had generally poor design values in the 1970s,” says Alex Brown, chief executive of All About Brands, an Abu Dhabi creative communications agency.
  • 1974 ad from Air India. Airlines such as Gulf Air, Air India, Iraqi Airways, British Airways, National Airlines and Swiss Air would promote themselves in the same issue of a newspaper, often just a page apart.
    1974 ad from Air India. Airlines such as Gulf Air, Air India, Iraqi Airways, British Airways, National Airlines and Swiss Air would promote themselves in the same issue of a newspaper, often just a page apart.
  • 1974 ad from Air India. Airlines such as Gulf Air, Air India, Iraqi Airways, British Airways, National Airlines and Swiss Air would promote themselves in the same issue of a newspaper, often just a page apart.
    1974 ad from Air India. Airlines such as Gulf Air, Air India, Iraqi Airways, British Airways, National Airlines and Swiss Air would promote themselves in the same issue of a newspaper, often just a page apart.
  • Sometimes, companies would take out brand-protection adverts, with the official agent and distributor of a brand warning against unofficial suppliers.
    Sometimes, companies would take out brand-protection adverts, with the official agent and distributor of a brand warning against unofficial suppliers.
  • The Kelvinator advertisement from 1974 proves – somehow – that ‘beauty is not just skin deep’.
    The Kelvinator advertisement from 1974 proves – somehow – that ‘beauty is not just skin deep’.

UAE

In pictures: Old adverts from UAE press

Stephen Nelmes

September 23, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

Advertisements from local press such as Abu Dhabi News, Gulf Monitor and Al Ittihad in 1974 show a vastly different way of doing business. From the touching tale of a woman and her fridge to the benefits of buying Lancer cars, these were dizzy days indeed. Words by Rym Ghazal, photos by Silvia Razgova / The National

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