A Digital Archive of Vintage Television Commercials

Sweet! Just in time for the premier of Mad Men season 3 next Sunday!

Check out AdViews, a digital archive of thousands of vintage television commercials dating from the 1950s to the 1980s.

These commercials were created or collected by the quintessential "Mad Men" ad agency, Benton & Bowles or its successor, D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B). Founded in 1929, Benton & Bowles was a New York advertising agency that merged with D'Arcy Masius McManus in 1985 to form DMB&B. Major clients included are Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Schick, Vicks, and Post, among others. Commercials will be added in phased batches over several months in 2009.

The commercials are a part of the D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles Archives found at the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History in Duke University's Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.

And I really digs the fact that you can either view these via the Duke University AdViews website or stream, download and subscribe in iTunes!

That's Right,

HMK

Gracias to Design Observer.