Quirky History
The Mail-Order Marketer Who Made Millions with Really Bad Ad Copy
Breaking little hearts everywhere $1.25 at a time.
Harold von Braunhut was a master at mail-order marketing in the 60’s and 70’s by placing millions of sensationalized ads in comic books directly targeting the minds of vulnerable children.
All you had to do was return the cut-out coupon with $1.25 plus .75 cents shipping. “MONEY BACK GUARANTEE” is always in bold and caps, intended to ease ones mind in the event you were not “100% delighted”.
I wonder what the return rate was?
How did he do it?
Braunhut was the brainchild behind the over-exaggerated comic book ads and in collaboration with a marine biologist by the name of Dr. D’Agostino, they came up with a mix of nutrients, chemicals, and salt, that when added to tap water with dry brine shrimp eggs, the solution would cause the eggs to hatch into a colony of Artemia NYOS.
Mr. Braunhut marketed the crustaceans as “Sea-Monkeys” which the ad claimed they Sea-Monkeys would grow into a “Sea Family”…
