a 1972 advertisement for Kodak colour film
Toronto. At first I thought these were two separate shots showing the superiority of Kodak colour film, since cameras or gift sets didn’t appear in the advertisement. Suddenly, I realized that the vertical white bar was a seam. This photo was a two page spread! The ad shows the rich colours and detail Kodak film accomplishes in print. Then I remembered that Kodak made its profit on photographic supplies, not consumer equipment, and as such it worked hard to promote its films.
This LIFE magazine ad on pages 40-41 of LIFE’s May 26, 1972 issue purports to show those rich colours and details. The style, camera, photographer, lighting, etc. are never mentioned. The implication is that anyone with a Kodak camera (The image of a tiny film box to the bottom right is for an Instamatic cartridge. Few others made cameras to take the cartridges as the film plane was rather erratic.) can take such rich and colourful photos of family and friends, intuitively moving closer and framing the exact moment everyone watched the ‘birdie’.
My thanks to good friend and photo historian George Dunbar for sharing this find with us! Well done, George.
