Perfumes in the USSR - great samples of good packaging

What makes you buy this or that perfume? Not only the smell as it is, but also a package. If you see the seductive, well-designed, interesting and attractive picture you'll probably want to try this perfume on. The package will make your bedroom table or bathroom shelf look great. Some packages are so beautiful that it's a real pity to throw them away after your perfume is run out. As for me, I remember the great perfume "Zen" made by Shiseido, and even greater cubicle form of its flask  I wasn't able to get rid of when no drop of the aromatic liquid remained inside...

Many people today are interested in vintage products, especially perfumes and make-up items. They have become rare, because they are no longer produced. With a perfume, it's sometimes impossible to find "that very" flask our Moms and Grannies used and even if it's stored somewhere in the antique shop or in your attic, the smell is not as it was to be. So, all what you can is only to enjoy the flask's appearance. And the design of perfumes' packages was great. Even in the USSR - this country, as you know, wasn't famous for its cosmetics and perfumes. Soviet women appreciated French and different other "foreign" perfumes. But the design of the Soviet products is stunning - just have a look!

"Rovesnitza"/'The Mate".

This perfume has a laconic, but a little bit art-deco form of the flask. Black-and-gray design of the package, with floral, also art-deco ornament and the romantic portrait of a girl in a medallion-shaped frame makes it a real rarity and a great purchase for all lovers of the antique romance. It's interesting to see the image of a "young beauty' on the package - it's not a sexy blonde chic, but a romantic, mysterious girl wearing the white blouse of the "belle epoch" period. 

"Dymok"/"Smoky"

Many Soviet perfumes came in sets packed in nice boxes with white silky filling inside. So, it made them a great present. "Mist" is a strange name for a perfume (especially when it comes on Russian, I associate the word "Dymok" with cigarette smoke), but the flask's design can be praised. A round shape is very convenient and nice-looking. This prolonged flask is a kind of prototype for pen-shaped perfume flasks which were very popular several years ago (and they still are, because it's very convenient to carry your favorite perfume along in your bag). 

"Chipre" Eau-De-Cologne

A classic Soviet men's perfume especially popular in the 1930s. It had a very "green", "woody" notes in its composition, so it was quite nice-smelling, if one can imagine. But due to mass production, the perfume grew worse and was associated with something cheap and non-pretencious. Here we see two flasks of Chipre. Design of the left one is more practical. It would soon become traditional for all other eau-de-colognes. Protruded "grind" on the flask's surface and the laconic label made in gold-white color combination are quite characteristic. The right flask is somehow more sophisticated and elegant. The form is smooth and the label was made with more designer's effort. Green and gold color combination is the recognizable elements of the Chipre brand. Notice, that the author of this photography appreciated this color scheme and encircled flasks by emerald green beads which color accentuates green coloring of the Chipre label. 

"Karpaty". Eau-de-Cologne

I really like wooden and "natural" motifs in the product and interior design so I really love this package.  It's a great design solution, minimalistic and simple, but also sophisticated and trendy. Just take a wooden texture, greatly designed letters reminding us of the engraving craft, and a stylized geometrical  silhouette of a pine-tree made in the golden color - and you'll get a great package for the perfume of the "natural" series. 

"May Be..." Perfume

This perfume with a "promising" name was actually made in Poland but exported to the USSR. I like this smooth pear-shaped flask with some sexy appeal in it (reminding the female figure), a round golden label and a minimalistic package with the wide contrast square in the middle. I think, the small size expressed some idea of sophistication and prestige. 

"To The Flight" Eau-de-Cologne

I really enjoyed both the flask and the package. These somehow psychedelic white-blue-black-gold circular shapes, crossed by the line of a airplane getting up are fantastic. The streamlined form of the flask is especially convenient and transmits the message of novelty and speed. Lettering is smooth and elegant. The new design expressing the rapidity and freshness is combined with the reminding that the perfume is somehow an elite product (golden ornaments and elegant cursive letters). 

"Real Persian Lilac" Perfume. Nouvelle Etoile, Moscow

It's the essence, a "pure lilac essence" and Nouvelle Etoile (Novaya Zarya) is a perfume and make-up monopolist in the Soviet Russia. Floral aromas were very popular among Soviet women, even the "pure" ones, like this lilac. Package designers made something glamorous, but elegant - this "Barbie" pink combined with golden letters and beige geometrical details is really smart. The form of this flask with "spiral" surface is great too. 

"Charming Naughty Girl"

Designers worked hard in order to express the image of a young coquette with all these ribbons, yellow-black dotted ornament and smooth flask. And they managed to do it! Lettering is also very interesting - some earliest prototype of Comic Sans MS. As you see, almost all Soviet perfumes have gilded elements on their packages. It's not an exception. This outstanding yellow color scheme combined with strikingly black dots and with this ribbon make it really attractive. 

"Bars" Eau-de-Cologne

The real perfume for real man - this can be said of it. Laconic details, black and white color scheme and masculine name are great for expressing the idea of manliness. 

So, as we see, packages and flasks are great but we can only guess what kind of perfumes they contained. And that's pity! But what to do - any smell is quite short-living. What remains from it is designer's ideas expressed in the perfumes' packages. 

Stalin for teenagers - a new social ad campaign

75 years ago General Secretary for the Communist Party in the USSR, Joseph Stalin signed the resolution which started so-called "Big Terror". People of different ranks, positions and occupations were arrested for some fantastic and baseless reasons and then tortured in the NKVD (Stalin's secret police) cells, sent to prison-like labour camps in Siberia and the North of Russia. Among them were writers, poets, artists, scientists and scholars, doctors and factory directors, priests and descendants of former Russian aristocracy and merchants. One of most popular accusations was espionage for some capitalist countries adversary to the USSR. Many prisoners of the GULAG were disclosed to the police by their neighbors and friends.

Thus, these years of "Big Terror" can be considered the real tragedy of the Russian people. Not only privileged classes and intellectuals suffered; many ordinary people, peasants and workers were arrested and tortured too. The reasons for such unprecedented measures can be numerous - Stalin suspected that there would be a treason against him among his fellow Party members (so, many of those who were arrested weren't anti-Soviet at all; they were ardent Communists and hoped till the end that they had been sent to the labour camp for some terrible mistake and they would be released as soon as Stalin would be informed of that); that there were really some profound reasons to look for foreign spies in the young, but thrivingly developing industrial state as the USSR was in those times. People who idealize Stalin (as it's fashionable among some Russian people today) say that severe measures and repressions were necessary for "keeping everything in order". But still, there is the issue of  great controversy. Although the cult of Stalin's personality and his repressive activities were given a negative estimation of politicians and Communistic activists as early as in the beginning of the 1960s (to such extent that Stalin's monuments were destroyed, his portraits and posters with his face on them which had been in abundance earlier were banned and the Soviet anthem with lines about "great Stalin who has lit the way for us" was rewritten), many people felt that they couldn't accuse Stalin in all sins of those times. The charm of Stalin's personality is still very strong. Nowadays, some Russian people have even started to romanticize his image. If you have a look to the Russian internets, you'll find a lot of Stalin's fans.
The Russian Non-Profit Organization for Victims of Illegal Political Repressions is warned by this fact. Its activists say that the reasons for increasing of Stalin's popularity among young people is that they are not informed about the extent of Big Terror and think that it was long time ago and all sources lie. Moreover, teenagers and youngsters don't see any links between the 1930s events and their own lives.
So, activists have invented an original way to tell the history for the new generation who has grown up with the Internet. The series of social prints "Stalin - he is like..." has appeared recently and immediately grabbed my attention. Here are some of them.

Stalin - he is like Foursquare: he showed who belongs where. 

Stalin - he is like Yandex: he used to send search enquiries. 

Stalin - he is like Facebook: he called for sharing information 

Stalin - he is like Twitter: he was brief. 

Stalin - he is like YouTube: he allowed loading and sending. 

Stalin is like VKontakte: he captivated millions. 

The common slogan for this social ad campaign is: "Big Terror 1937-1938. 75 years are not the time to forget". 

As you pay attention you'll also see the very good job of graphic designers. They have played with logos of social networks and their interfaces in order to blend modern features with historical content. Twitter's bird becomes Stalin's mustaches; Facebook's sign for "Like" is completed with the famous Stalin's pipe; and features of VK's interface (function buttons) are rewritten with "To send a telegram", "To add to comrades", "To declare a people's enemy". In the left corner one can read some historical facts and figures about Big Terror. 

I think that is the well-done job; ads are not very pathetic and sentimental, but rather quirky and even funny (a sort of black humor). And they really make you thinking of Big Terror and its tragedy. 

Anti-alcohol advertising campaign in the USSR

Alcoholism and drunkenness has always been one grave social problem among many others. Habit of drinking alcoholic beverages seems to be shared by most people of the European and American world. And quite often this habit becomes mortal, destroying a person's health, making her addictive and influencing on her social and family life. Governments and societies have long been struggling for the ideal of sobriety (with different degree of success). Different "dry laws" were introduced, only to make things worse, because as there weren't any alcoholic beverages legally sold "black market" of fake, "hand-made" and even poisonous booze immediately started to prosper, alongside with illegal import from abroad.

In the USSR, "dry law" was introduced by the General Secretary (then the President) Michael Gorbacheff as the means to encourage people work more instead of drinking vodka and to improve the nation's health and well-being (because alcoholism is also related with family and society problems, poorness and child abuse). The massive propaganda overwhelmed the country - the number of anti-alcohol publishings and social advertising campaigns were great, as well as some forcing measures, such as destroying of Crimean vineyards (some of the vine species grown in Crimea had been really unique and  would  never be restored) and involuntary sending people suffering from alcoholism to so-called Prevention Houses ("profilactories") where they were kept 24 hours a day without the right to leave it before the certain term. The net of so-called "vytrezvitely" ("Sobering Houses") was organized. And it still operates. So, a policeman had the right to arrest a drunken person on the street and to send her to the Sobering House for a night. It was thought that the perspective to spend a night under the arrest in a prison-like institution would be a good stimulus for someone not to drink to the degree it would be very noticeable (till they became unable to stand straight and to walk properly). And it made things worse that policemen often robbed an unlucky drunkard of his or her valuables. But sometimes this measure was beneficial, for in harsh and frosty Russian winters many people who'd drunk too much had the risk to fall asleep in the snow and never wake up (and this happened sometimes), and thus, policemen saved drunkards' lives in cold seasons.  Moreover, people with heavy drinking habits risked their working careers.

As it always happens with such measures, intentions had been good, but the reality turned to be more complicated, and, just like it had happened during American "dry law", people soon started to look for ways to illegally purchase alcohol. The old village craft of "samogon"-making (samogon - is the Russian native equivalent to whiskey and brandy) started to revive. People made homemade wine and beer, and often not for their own usage but for sale. Since nobody controlled the quality of these drinks, there was a danger to be poisoned or to get sick while drinking this alcohol. Real alcoholics turned their attention to alcohol-containing liquids, not intended for drinking by people, such as perfumes, eau-de-colognes, lotions, cleaning liquids etc. Some medicines (different herbal liquids) containing high percentage of alcohol were bought by alcoholics in drugstores. Of course, it made things worse and poisoning by this inappropriate "booze" was quite common (and sometimes lethal). And none of the strict governmental measure didn't solve the problem of drinking.

Of course, drinking and alcoholism are serious problems affecting social, working and private life of the person suffering from it and people around her. And, unlike drugs, alcoholic beverages are wide-spread and can be bought anywhere, they are relatively cheap (compared with heroine, for example). People become addictive to heavy doses of alcohol and develop a lot of diseases. Many divorces, child abuses and neglecting are indirectly caused by drinking habits of a parent or a marriage partner. Someone who's addictive to alcohol turns into an anti-social person who cannot do her work properly and spends all her money on drinks. Many severe crimes are committed under the alcohol influence - most notoriously, murders and assaults.  But, as we see, the complete ban on selling alcoholic beverages usually doesn't help. In Russia, this is aggravated by the fact that traditionally Russian people like to drink strong alcohol, for example, vodka or brandy, and they drink it in shots, so they can get drunk quite fast. The beer as the essential element of a party became popular among Russians only 20 years ago (before that it had been used as a hangover remedy or a refreshment beverage), and the wine was considered "the booze for women". So, the culture of drinking wine or beer during the meal is foreign for Russia, instead of it Russian people traditionally prefer to get drunk on rare occasions, but drinking then becomes really extreme.

I've chosen some well-known Russian posters which serve as a good illustration for Soviet anti-alcoholic campaign. They are good examples of Soviet poster graphics as well as of social advertising; at least, they warn against consequences of uncontrollable drinking quite well. Here they are:

Shame on you! 

He got drunk, was rude and broke a tiny tree -

He is shameful to look at people's faces now.

So, here we have the whole, well-painted (as usual with Soviet ads) story of a quite respectable man who's got drunk, misbehaved and damaged the public property (and caught by a policeman for his misdemeanor). Now he's overwhelmed with the feeling of shame. It seems that the main cause of his shame is not a fine but that he damaged the young tree which had been carefully planted  either by himself or by his neighbors or colleagues. The main message of this ad is that you should always think of consequences of your drunken behavior and it's better not to get drunk if you don't want to be destructive. 

Not a drop!

This ad warns against teenage drinking. A hand which, may be, is belonged to some kind of a superior guardian, prevents the schoolboy against tasting the alcohol. Many future alcoholics first get drunk in early age, so this ad contains a clear message: you'd better not even try! 

Let's hit!

It's an ad of the early Soviet era. Here the message is clearly visible: drinking habits of workers slow down industrial revolution. The red furious worker with the great hammer ("Cultural Revolution", as it's written on it) is destroying the huge bottle of alcohol. Factories and plants, electrical power stations are on the background, reminding us of the prosperous future - without such "vice of the past" as vodka-drinking. Below one can read a poem of the recognized Soviet poet Demian Bedniy whose verses were often quoted on different posters of Stalin era. 

In this tiny glass,

in the very this

The great plant

Can drown.

Let's expel drunkards from working masses!

This poster is also a vivid and emotional warning against drinking at the working place. The disgusting picture of the red-nosed drunkard pouring vodka to the glass and the vodka flooding a Soviet plant is very impressive. 

Dad, don't drink

Not only a career or a plant where the alcoholic works can be affected by his mortal habit, but also his family life, as we see from this poster. A dramatic choice of images grabs our attention. The hand with the raised vodka shot, belonging to the drunkard who is going to pour "just another one" inside and a desperate child with miserable expression trying to prevent his Dad from drinking. It's laconic but it's smart. 

For the health?

A quirky graphics is very impressive. Two glasses of wine standing side by side suddenly form a skull. It's a subtle picture, using methods of optical illusion and Surrealism painting. It quietly but rather cruelly reminds us of consequences of alcohol consuming. 

The rich internal content.

This is some king of hybrid between a social ad and a caricature. It mocks a man whose head is literally full of booze. Make notice that a man wears good clothes and bottles are quite expensive, such as cognacs and liqueurs. This ad also aims against people who like collecting rare beverages.

Alcohol

A loop of rope forming the letter O in the word "alcohol" is an impressive image. Black and white graphics only emphasizes the gravity and mortality of alcohol consumption problem. It also hints that the alcoholism not only kills the body - alcoholics tend to commit suicides, and, as far as Russia is concerned, the most popular way of alcohol suicides is hanging oneself. So, the main message of this ad: "The alcohol is mortal". 

Stop!

Last warning

Another metaphor in a good and impressive graphics - drinking is just another method for killing oneself. A drunkard is almost one foot in the abyss, but the hand of its guardian manages to save him on the very edge of it. Take notice to the small figures of the drunkard's desperate family.

And they still say that we are pigs...

This poster artist chose another tactics - instead of warning or frightening viewers he decided to mock drunkards and their inappropriate ("piggish") behavior. Two pretty pigs look down at a disgusting drunkard with his face in the dish, surrounded by half-eaten fish and his own vomit on the table - the unpleasant picture to look at. 

British ads for the USSR

It's surprising that these ads were created as early as at 1937. They promoted some products and services of the USSR for British tourists who would visit Moscow. These wonderful examples of advertising graphics and slogans are unique in some sense. So, USSR was the closed country secluded within the "iron curtain". There weren't a lot of tourists there, because it was very difficult to obtain a visa and to buy a ticket to Moscow. But in fact, before Stalin age, the new splendid country which was built according to Communist principles, was seen as a new Eldorado, as the place for social experimentation without any boundaries, as something which had nothing common with "rotting West"  where capitalism still ruled and everything seemed boring for young enthusiasts. So, some modernist architects, artists, writers and journalists came to visit "new Russia", the USSR, and many of them saw it as the place for their experiments and for free roaming of all, even the craziest ideas. Thus, Le Corbusier built several edifices and houses in Moscow according to his principles of severe minimalism, economy of space etc. The harsh and severe lines of Le Corbusier's buildings would be strange and awkward among, say, Gothic spires of Prague or Parisian architectural abundance. But in a new country with new beginnings, which had put the end to its past, such architecture seemed to be exactly what was needed. But these "roaring twenties" in the Soviet Russia is the subject of the separate post I'll write soon... Now, let's come back to 1937. This year is considered to be one of the darkest years in Russian history. If you ask a Russian about his or her associations with this year, they will probably think of Stalin's repressions, sufferings of many people who were sent to the labour camps and prisons upon fabricated accusations in being a spy of some foreign countries or in "damaging of the Socialist property" or in "being a foreign and ideologically alien element" (thus, people who were originated from former aristocracy, civil servants, officers or merchants, people having relatives living abroad, priests and other representatives of former "privileged classes" were in the group of risk; many of them, if they wanted to survive, had to conceal their former occupation and origins, not to say anything about their family and relatives). So, 1937 is "the terrible year", the year of terror. But if we have a look at these cheerful ads, we'll think that there is no country better than the USSR. Tasty food, refined entertainment, technical achievements, spacial streets of the rebuilt Moscow, good-looking girls - that were export items which were to attract wealthy British tourists. And they look appealing even today - if we look at these old-school ads.

Aeroflot still exists today, though it's a private company and there are a lot of its commercial rivals. But "Aeroflot" remains "classy". The graphics here is excellent. I like this combination of light blue, navy and mint green. 

Sturgeon is the Russian national fish, thus, the best "eatable" souvenir was to be the canned sturgeon. But you shouldn't forget about apples, pears and grapes - they were good too and a tourist would be pleased to eat such food. 

The USSR was a very huge country. So, it could offer a plenty of products, especially for foreign tourists. Crab meat was one of such products. You can use it for making a tasty salad with lemons, greenery and eggs - and the graphic image shows that. I like the fonts and designer solutions here, especially this picture of salad-making process painted into the letter "C".

Gastronom is the Russian version of the Western supermarket. In 1937 "Gastronom" was still a trademark, but then it became the common term for all stores of this type. The abundance shown on this picture had nothing to do with reality - as for 1970s-1980s, the product assortment was scarce and people had to queue for hours in order to buy something worth (often, when your turn came nothing was left). 

One of the Russian attractions is the Transsiberian Railway, which stretches out from Moscow to Vladivostok. The train trip along this railway route is a popular Russian excursion (the train trip will take a week). Therefore, the dining car is the special invention (and a very convenient too) for travelers. As we see, food on offer is very good: champagne, fruits, starters, and of course the famous tea in the special designed glass (with the iron holder; it's the collection subject). As for me, I've never eaten in dining cars while traveling by train (it seemed to be a quite expensive pleasure and sometimes assortment is rather scarce). But it should be convenient, especially if your journey lasts the whole week! 

TZUM (Central Moscow Universal Store) still exists today in the fabulous art deco building at the same address as mentioned in this ad, but now it looks just like another one Moscow shopping mall. However, it has retained its reputation as the best universal store in Moscow. When the USSR still existed, people from all over the country came to buy something special in the TZUM they couldn't find on sale in their places. Now you can buy here production of European fashion houses, and, of course, the big ZARA store is located in it. It is especially busy during seasonal sales, and only in this time it somehow looks like it used to be in the years when it was the main shopping mall of the Russian capital. 

Product advertising in the USSR

I really like cute, straightforward and thoroughly made Soviet ads. Though they are not really commercial, but they are very stylish, and they have been made before the Photoshop era. It means that all advertising illustrations were made be hand and by professional artists. Here are further examples of this nostalgic art:

The whole USSR writes by ink pen "Soyuz" named after L.B. Krasin

Very distinctive coloring reflects the sense of powerfulness and some serious approach to sales. And we also see a good example of fonts (I particularly like them in old ads). The giant ink pen with the brand name and the number appears on the background of the USSR map (only its European part, which is somehow strange). The map is blackened, perhaps by inks, which reflects the meaning of the slogan - that the whole USSR uses these pens for writing. This ad is certainly eye-catching.

Bitter liquors 

A very straightforward ad of alcoholic drinks. I think that such things as tobacco and alcohol should be advertised in this very way - just by showing bottles (or cigarette packs) and without some lifestyle shit, as we see in different ads (naked beauties, cowboys and so on). Here we see three good, solid, well-designed bottles of "bitter liquors" (which are vodka varieties). Even gin ("Dutch Gin" as it's called here) is represented. They are well-painted on the blue background with fine yellow wording (good fantasy font again!). 

Smoke flavored cigars

Yes, they made cigars in the USSR! (they made champagne and called it "Soviet Champagne", it's still popular in Russia). Here we see the attempt to make a lifestyle ad. Packs of cigars are laid against the optimistic and romantic tropical landscape made in ochre coloring. Tobacco leaves frame up products. Here we see good samples of product packaging as well as masterpieces of font design (three kinds of font are used here). Take notice of names of these brands: "Moscow", "Sever" (North), Soyuznye ("The Union's"). It's patriotic!

Drink "Guiness" for your health

I don't know whether they made dark beer in the USSR and called it Guiness as the name of the type (the same story as with "Soviet Champagne", which isn't champagne in the proper sense, just a sparkling wine) or they actually imported Guiness beer to the USSR. But the product name is written by Russian letters. As for the image, they are well-made as usual: two glasses of dark beer: full and empty and the fascinating framing are very eye-catching. 

Soviet advertising - some other amazing samples

Today I've found some other five beautiful examples of ads in the Soviet Russia. As I've said in my previous posts, they were made not for making people by the product of the certain brand (for there wasn't any real competition between manufacturers in the USSR), but for promoting of the certain product which just had been launched on market or of the certain lifestyle which wasn't possible without using of that product or service. Graphic artists and decorators invented a very distinctive and attractive style of those ads - they usually preferred to make illustrations, not just to take photographic images, for advertising.
So, there are further examples of Soviet ads I like:

Ministry of Light Manufacturing for the USSR

Headdresses of the Fall-Winter Assortment 

I like this ad for its straightforwardness and background, plus the color palette is also very nice. Here we have a very direct slogan - you can buy hats and caps for winter and fall made by then the sole manufacturer of accessories in the USSR. But the quality of painting and the whole composition of this ad make up the real work of art. Hats, from the classic white hat to the winter fur caps, are painted very natural, as they are. On the top of the picture we see the subtle background of the autumn's red maple leaves matching with the hat suitable for wearing at fall. Then the background turns into bluish palette and we see the snowy pine branches at the bottom, perfectly matching with the winter garb. The color of the font is also gradually changed from the top to the bottom of the ad - from mild orange to the cold blue color. It's the ad one would be pleased to look at - neither aggressive, nor gaudy, but a very artistic.  

I eat cookies by the factory "Red October", former Einem.

Don't buy it anywhere else except Mosselprom.

This is the vivid example of the constructivist graphic design. Such ads were produced by the "ROST window" movement, which made a lot of illustrations, caricatures, social propaganda posters which could be seen on Leningrad and Moscow streets during the times of the Civil War and NEP (New Economic Policy, the policy offered by the Soviet government as the transition between the "old" capitalist economy and the new Communist one). The works of this movement were aimed for propaganda and informing of the people about political situation and bringing new ideas to the masses. Then, while new companies were emerging encouraged by the NEP policy of the state (allowing the existence of private-owned companies and manufacturers which started to open in large scale in the 1920s), need in advertising services became acute. NAPmen (new "Soviet" businessmen) needed to attract new costumers and to promote their products and services. Thus, they commissioned leading graphic artists (such as Kruchenykh) and poets (such as Mayakovsky) to create ads for them. The state enterprises, such as Mosselprom, also used the services of advertisers. Here we have a pretty good example of such 1920s advertisement. Sharp geometric lines and primary colors, somehow angular fonts used for this ad were fashionable in these times, when Malevich was working over his famous "Squares". The product itself - cookies - is shown at the middle of the ad, in the red hexagonal frame. Cookies are flowing to the girl's mouth. The slogan is also very interesting. It's personal (here advertisers use "I", which is meant to indicate one's personal experience; such approach is very good for advertising and is still widely used). But it's very informative - we see the name of the factory producing these cookies and even its former name (in case someone would be confused with the rapid renaming and rebranding of the good old trademarks proved by time), then we see where you could buy it. 

Electric vacuum cleaner. Good and fast in cleaning carpets, clothes, furniture, walls and floors from the dust. 

Here is the ad of more or less modern taste. The effective domestic piece of electronics, a new invention which had just appeared on the market, is very effective in removing dust from carpets and other surfaces. The design of this vacuum cleaner (Dnepr) is the subject of the separate explanation, but let's look on this well-painted, vivid piece of the ad. Here we see the ad which promotes usage of the certain new invention (a vacuum cleaner) in households. A beautiful but covered with the thick layer of dust carpet is being cleaned by this miraculous gadget and it reveals its real color. The ads which show the effect of using something for the certain purpose are very effective. And here is one example of this. I'd like to add that the carpet (not just a floor or a sofa) was chosen for the better effect. At first, dusty carpets really look unattractive, even worse than dusty floors or walls. At second, carpets played the special role in Soviet interiors - they made floors warmer and, being attached to the wall, they helped for better sound-isolation and for keeping the room warm. And they played an aesthetic role too. 

Fifty million people buy the soap

"Bouquet of my Granny"

T-Zh-Moscow

15 kopecks per bar

Here is a very simple and informative ad, nevertheless, it's quite bright. Blue and red color combination perfectly attracts the viewer's eye; the slogan informs us that as much as 15 million customers give the preference to this sort of soap; that it's produced by the certain company; and that the price is only 15 kopecks. I like the way the soap itself is drawn: it has a very attractive package with a very vivid and interesting floral ornament, somehow reminding art deco ornaments, and the wording, made in old-Russian calligraphic lettering, is also beautiful. I think the trademark of this T-Zh company is also very cute and the name chosen by them for this soap is very accurate: it hints at a good floral perfume and at preserving old soap-making traditions ("my Granny had already preferred it") awakening some kind of nostalgic feeling and childhood memories.

Buy model shoes on the light porous soil.

A good example of the lifestyle ad. Here we see the brown shoes in the centre of the picture and the city night landscape with people strolling along the streets. May be, these shoes are not very attractive; but they are perfect for walking in the city and they enable you to walk for all the day (because their soil is light and porous). I think here the very smart approach is used - to advertise not only the product of design but the lifestyle (urban and somehow sophisticated, as we see from the landscape matching the shoes) too. This approach is widely used today, but, I think, in much more straightforward manner (like depicting people wearing the clothes of the certain brand and performing certain activities). 

Product advertising in the USSR

Look around and you'll soon find million examples of advertising. Books and food, cosmetics and clothes, furniture and design objects - it's all advertised and experts invent million ways in order to make potential customers to buy something. Some of such ads are masterpieces of cinema or design, some are rather humble and annoying. Some ads have become symbols - think of the famous Coca-Cola TV ad which is traditionally shown before Christmas and which has become closely associated with this holiday.
However, almost all ads present in our environment are made because of rivalry for customers. Companies compete with each other and they wish to attract customers. How to say that your products are better than others? Right, to do a good ad. A really good ad, I mean. So, it seems that only competition may make manufacturers to make good ads.
Anyway, in case of the planned economics, entirely regulated by the government, not by the market itself, ads are equally important. But their aim is different. So, in the Soviet times advertising used to have one aim: to promote some kind of services (for example "Keep your money in the savings bank!", no matter, that it's the single bank network in the whole country) or products (as we'll see on the following ads). Let's have a look at pretty samples of the Soviet advertising. I like these graphic images created long before designer graphic software became available. They are real jewels of this art.

Jam is good for all children

On Russian, this slogan makes the rhyme. A good, healthy, red-cheeked girl, surrounded by fruit trees in blossom, is holding a big jar of apple jam in her plump hands. This ad is really tasty - a good pretty girl which makes everyone cheer up and smile, her red dress and equally red cheeks, a beautiful orchard behind her back - advertisers didn't need to expose the product in large scale in order to make customers desire to buy it. And the slogan - jam is good for children. It's sweet and healthy. And organic, we'd mention nowadays, but in those times nobody used to care about this matter. 

Toothpaste "Chlorodont"

Some of us wouldn't call this ad politically correct. And it is not. We see an elegant black man with wide white smile he's achieved with the help of the toothpaste. I'll call this ad rather laconic and minimalist. No slogan, only a product and the result one can achieve via this product - the whitest teeth. And the exotic element too - black people were unusual on streets of the average Soviet city. 

Narkompitscheprom of the USSR

Hot Moscow Burgers with Bean 

50 kopecks 

What's the most special in this rather minimalist and straightforward ad, it's the font. It's really interesting. The picture is less important than the price - I guess, a very cheap price for consumers ("only 50 kopecks"). That's why both a bean and a burger are made very humble in contrast with the big red digits on the black background. But I think, despite of rather symbolic picture of the product, this ad was successful - at least, you know, what king of burger you are to buy - there was only one, so you don't need to see it painted on the ad, while the price can be the main argument for buying that "Soviet fast food".

Ministry of Food Production of the USSR

Glavparfumer (Main Parfumer)

Guys are to clean teeth well.

Again, there is the rhyme in the original Russian version of the slogan. This ad kills two birds with one  stone - it's both the promotion of the healthy lifestyle for kids and the promotion of the certain product - tooth powders for children (made by Glavparfumer). Here we also see advantages of using children's images in the ad. They are nice and cute, bright and cheerful. Their images are able to promote the healthy and hygienic lifestyle every loving parent would choose for their own kids. There is an idyllic countryside landscape on the background, a neat blonde girl is cleaning her teeth and applying the toothpowder on her brush, and the boy is watching her, eager to follow her example. On the bottom of the ad we see products displayed more closely - two kinds of tooth powder. 

Glavkhladprom

Buy ice.

Ice keeps products fresh. Ask for it in all drugstores.

I guess this ad had appeared long before refrigerators  were introduced to all households. Or, rather, refrigerators did exist, but not everyone could afford buying (or, as we speak of the USSR, "getting") it. So, main methods for preserving fresh products for some time were linked with keeping it in a cool place (in the special room in the cellar, or to hang bags with products outside the window in the cold season). Ice could make this task easy. So, this product was essential for those who wanted to eat fresh fish, milk products, butter and meat - here we see fresh and quick-spoilt products surrounded by the ice. I should mention here that the package design of kefir, the pack of butter and the bunch of meat are rather stylish too. And the angular font of the word "Ice" is also attractive. It's interesting that ice was sold in the drugstore. May be, only drugstores had the machines for keeping it.