The World's First Ever TV Ad

The first ever ad was for Bulova watches in 1941. It cost a whopping $9 (just $4 dollars more than this reconstruction cost).

Five minutes of Final Cut tinkering later and - tada - here we are.

Enjoy.

[superpan]

*1941:* America runs on Bulova time.
*2019:* America runs on Dunkin.

[MassiveScore]

That was better than the Super Bowl ads this year.

[chistinelane]

those people must have been like "wtf was that!"

[Rhoasckm]

And thus began the journey which would eventually lead to the Billy Mays infomercials.

[Jedwint]

They need to replay this ad on the super bowl on its 150th anniversary.

[peterh]

I own a stack of Bulovas, probably around 40, particularly Accutrons. Wonderful watches. Dead accurate and the case and dial designs are works of art.

[Lampshade]

This was NOT the famous first Bulova TV ad.

The ad in question, the first paid TV ad in history, happened just before a Brooklyn Dodgers game on WNBT (now WNBC) New York at 2:29 PM on the first day of commercial television, July 1, 1941.  It was a WNBT test pattern modified to look like a clock with the words "Bulova Watch Time" in the lower right hand portion.  It remained on screen for one minute.  Bulova wanted to be the very first TV sponsor, and the pre-show test pattern/clock guaranteed it.  Still pictures of the camera shooting the test pattern exist on the internet.  Search "first televised commercial".

[Hadidctrl]

This is better than the 10 minutes of commercials

[pikuijgh]

imagine watching tv in the 40's and then you see an ad for the first time

[fernsdreams]

if you're confused, $9 in 1941 is worth about $160 today, so this advertisement costed a lot just to air on tv. i believe today's advertisements cost around $25 to $80 to air, but also even more. it probably depends on where you air it, how long it is, and what you're advertising for

[SporksAgainstForks]

Some watch company made this and now we out here waiting through 15-second unskippable ads to watch 10-second long videos

[paistinlasta]

How to make a succesful ad in the US
"America... [Something] with [Your product]"

[luislaplume]

There was a Bulova watch factory in Woodside, Queens, NYC when we moved there in 1957! It was still active. It is seen at the 61st. Roosevelt Avenue Subway station of the 7 line above the Long Island Railroad station. That building was their headquarters.

[bloomingtonmowandsnow]

Straight to the point. Not cringey, "comical" or confusing. A picture of the american map, with a statement to go along with the illustration.

[CaseyQuotes]

You are a legend if you know the Bulova "America runs on Bulova Time" ad from 1941, the first commerical ever to hit TVs. It was bought for $9 ($163.50 today), and it was nine seconds long. On July 1st, 1941, there was a big game on NBC going on, and interrupting it was the Bulova time commerical.

[ismaelpenalver]

I wish all commercials we're that short.

[johnwhittington]

this advert makes me feel really uneasy....like, imagine being back in 1941 and this pops up, Everyone buys Bulova's watches it's the cool thing to buy....it's very aggressive.

[Daniel-jvom]

But then, in 1927, the television was invented, and just 15 short years later, on
July 1, 1942, during a Brooklyn Dodgers–Philadelphia Phillies game at Ebbets
Field, the first-ever TV commercial aired.
At the time, there were over 4, 000
televisions in New York, and that day, while families gathered around to watch
the big game on NBC, it was interrupted by the first-ever TV commercial. That
ad, which was just nine seconds long and cost only $9, featured a map of
America with a Bulova watch clockface in the middle. At the end of the ad, a
voice announced, “America runs on Bulova time.” And with those nine seconds,
the shift from search advertising to interruption advertising had officially begun.

-Traffic Secrets

[saints]

This ad ran during the 1946 Rose Bowl and cost a whopping $400 to make. People were writing so many letters to Bulova for months trying to get more information that the mailroom was soon overloaded and had to shut down

[chrminid]

Hands down the best marketing I’ve ever seen. Liberty Mutual got nothin on this.