False Advertising….

 

I remember when I was a kid I used to “collect” comic books. I say “collect” because I only had like 10.  I remember reading a “Richie Rich,” or “Green Lantern” comic book (I still have them) and in the back of it were a bunch of small ads.  One ad had X-ray glasses where you could see through clothes, another was a “Whoopee Cushion,” and then there was the object of my desire.  “Sea Monkeys.”  Remember those?  In the advertisement the Sea Monkeys looked like little people.  If I remember correctly, one of them was even carrying a brief case.  I knew one thing at this young age.  I HAD TO HAVE SEA MONKEYS.  I wanted a little world of my own.  Where I could watch them go to and from work.  They would love me as I sprinkled food to them, and, if they ever made me angry, they would incur my wrath as I violently shook their jar.  I BEGGED my Mom for sea monkeys.  Finally (probably to get me to shut up) she bought me my coveted prize.  I sprinkled the dry contents of the packet and waited.  In a few days I saw movement.  I was thrilled.  A short time later, things were swimming around. The “little people” I was so excited to watch and love, looked like a jar full of “BACK WASH.”  Not only was I devastated, I was kinda grossed out.

Up to that point, in my young life, it was the most blatant form of false advertising I had run into.  That is, of course until the movie “The Never Ending Story.”

 

 

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