M*A*S*H Ad: "That's Show Biz"

Those stock heads are kinda weird--Hawkeye's enjoying himself, but Potter and B.J. just look creepy!

M*A*S*H Ad: "Guerilla My Dreams"

Pretty accurate description of the episode, and for once the images used actually help convey the story. Though I might have added: "Hear Hawkeye say 'son of a bitch'!"

M*A*S*H Ad: "Welcome to Korea"

B.J. is "strictly G.I."--really?

M*A*S*H Ad: Re-Runs

Here's something a little different--an ad exclusively devoted to M*A*S*H re-runs!

Growing up, my local station ran M*A*S*H twice a night, five nights a week. Good times.

M*A*S*H Ad: "Friends and Enemies"

Hawkeye looks kinda bored! Maybe because this episode wasn't about him in either of the A or B plot?

M*A*S*H Ad: "Death Takes A Holiday"

I love that inappropriate "a-ok" Hawkeye shot that advertisers used more than once in these ads. Col. Potter seems to disapprove, however.

M*A*S*H Ad: "Give 'Em Hell, Hawkeye"

What an odd headline! I wonder what other CBS shows were involved in the "breaking taboos" theme of the night?

Also, B.J. looks very suspicious of Hawkeye, don't you think?

M*A*S*H Ad: "The Life You Save"

The collection of goofy faces really doesn't quite convey the moody seriousness of this episode--and I can't be sure, but I don't think that still of David Ogden Stiers is even from M*A*S*H!

M*A*S*H Ad: "Rumor At The Top"

I guess they couldn't find a "Surprised Hawkeye" shot, so "Slightly Soused Hawkeye" will have to do!

M*A*S*H Ad: "Iron Guts Kelly"

This is actually a pretty good description of the episode, for once!

M*A*S*H Ad: "Follies of the Living - Concerns of the Dead"

Kind of a goofy description for what was one of the series' most unusual and experimental episodes. But when you've only got one or two sentences to work with, I guess you can't expect too much.

I like Klinger's "I see a ghost!" expression--it was used a lot in these ads, but here its almost appropriate. Almost.

M*A*S*H Ad: "Our Finest Hour"

A very awkward description of what was M*A*S*H's only "clip show."

M*A*S*H Ad: "Bottle Fatigue"

They obviously didn't have a recent picture of Mike Farrell on hand--B.J. had long since grown his groovy 70's 'stache by the time of this episode!

Also, that picture of what looks like a soused Winchester I think comes from another Season Eight episode, "Mr. and Mrs. Who?"--an ironic choice, considering the plot of this show.

M*A*S*H Ad: "Hey, Look Me Over"

While the description of this episode's plot is technically correct, it really does woefully misrepresent what the show was about. I'm guessing Fox did not provide any stock photos or stills of Nurse Kellye.

I love the shot of Hawkeye, B.J., and Winchester, posed as they are in a sort of Three Stooges-esque "wacky hi-jinx" manner.

M*A*S*H Ad: "The General Flipped At Dawn"

Unlike some of the other TV ads for the show, this pic of Alda, Rogers, and Stevenson actually looks like it was all one shot--not cobbled together via cut-and-paste.

M*A*S*H Ad: "Goodbye Radar"

The other day, while surfing eBay looking for "new" M*A*S*H stuff, I found someone selling an unusual item: a collection of 61 different newspaper and TV Guide ads for M*A*S*H, all clipped out by hand!

I've been wanting to put up more new posts here, but without new shows to cover, there hasn't been much to say. But as anyone who visits my other blogs know, I love vintage ads, so this auction seemed custom made for me!

The ads in the auction run the gamut of the show's history: ads for original episodes, ads for re-runs, and more. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I do!

I've added a new button to the sidebar ("Struggling in Advertising"), so anytime you want to see all the ads that have so far been posted, just click there!

M*A*S*H Flashlight - 1982

A M*A*S*H flashlight? Why not? They did use them on the show once in a while ("Bombed", "The Sniper") so it makes perfect sense!

M*A*S*H Die-Cast Metal Toys - 1975

More than likely, some toy manufacturer had these little die-cast Army jeep toys sitting around, when someone (probably Morty down in Sales) got the idea that if they paid 20th Century Fox the licensing fee and then slapped a M*A*S*H logo on it, they could sell them as bona-fide tie-in toys and probably make a few bucks. Perhaps I'm being too cynical.

One thing, I do like that drawing of the M*A*S*H chopper: very nice!

M*A*S*H First Aid Kit - 1984

While trolling on eBay for weird and/or obscure M*A*S*H stuff, I found an ad for what might just be the weirdest, most obscure M*A*S*H tie-in ever!

Apparently in 1984 (a year after the show went off the air!), a manufacturer produced this first aid/highway safety kit, slapping the famous M*A*S*H logo on it. Other than that, there's no connection to the show at all, aside from the quasi-medical angle.

If you read the ad (click the graphic to see a readable version), you can see this was kind of an Amway thing, where you bought a bunch of kits with the idea you would then sell them yourself and turn a profit (a very Winchester Season 6 kind of plan). If you bought 12 kits(!) they sent you a keen M*A*S*H cardboard carrying case, which you can see little Timmy holding in the ad.

I looked up this kit on a page about M*A*S*H collectibles, and its listed as "common", which must be true, because I found one for sale online for only $20.00. I wonder how rare that cardboard carrying case is? I bet a lot.