The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) has introduced an extensive online exhibit at museum.tv called “We’ll be Right Back: 60 years of Television Commercials.”
The online exhibit features MBC’s archives of more than 10,000 commercials and nearly 100,000 hours of content. “We’ll be Right Back: 60 years of Television Commercials” spans more than six decades, and showcases more than 100 of the best television commercials from the 1940s through today.
“We’re very excited about the debut of this online exhibit that both celebrates and preserves our rich television heritage and supports the Museum’s educational mission,” said Bruce DuMont, President and Founder of the Museum of Broadcast Communications.
“Television programming and advertising are mirrors that reflect popular culture. Preserving our television heritage is a way of preserving our past, and offers future generations the chance to experience that culture in a very real way.”
The online exhibit features classic spots from brands such as Tootsie Roll Pops, Chevrolet, Texaco, Tang, Life Cereal, McDonalds, Alka Seltzer, Dunkin Donuts, Coca Cola, Budweiser, American Express, Lexus, Gillette, Apple, Target and others. It also offers a look at Super Bowl advertising featuring the most memorable spots from 1969 to 2010, Political advertising, Infomercials, Public Service Announcements and examples of Product Placement on programs like “I Love Lucy” and “Modern Family.”
Each section features links that let visitors watch classic commercials and editorial that provides a brief history of the era or genre and helps visitors put the content they view in context with the times.
“From the beginning, brand sponsorship of television programs was the foundation by which content was produced… providing a decade by decade narrative clearly demonstrates the role advertisers played in the growth of the media,” says David Plier, Vice President of the Board of Directors for the MBC, CEO of advertising agency Retail First Corporation and curator of the online exhibit.
