And now a word from our sponsors (part three) - Dracula Ads

Last time around we took a deep dive into the world of Count Chocula and his monstrous friends – and if you thought that having vampires sell your breakfast cereal was a strange choice, trust me when I say you haven’t seen anything yet.

Naturally, an iconic and recognisable character such as Dracula is going to have plenty of name value, and as such be an ideal brand ambassador for all sorts of products. Here we’ll be bringing you some of the best Dracul-ads from the past, with links if you fancy checking them out yourself!

Lollies

It was only last week we discussed the popular Dracula lollies of the 70s and 80s, and here’s a very nicely animated advert with a suitably ominous voiceover…

Wall's Dracula Advert (1981)

Cream Cakes

There are many famous actors who have depicted the role of Dracula, though Kenneth Williams might not be top of the list. However, in 1985 Williams donned the count’s garb to plug Fresh Cream Cakes!

Fresh Cream Cakes Advert (1985)

Garlic Pizza Bread

Delissio Garlic Bread Pizza poked fun at Drac’s well-known aversion to garlic, and features the wonderful line ‘He’s not a vampire, he’s Goth!’ – how wrong our protagonist was.

Delissio Garlic Bread Advert (2009)

Insurance

In 2012, underrated character actor Frankie Ray played the Count in an advert for Geico Insurance, who claimed their customers would be ‘happier than Dracula at a blood drive’. And I’d say that would be pretty happy…

Geico Insurance Advert (2012)

Blood Donation

And a bizarrely similar topic, how’s about this one advertising the Red Cross and encouraging viewers to give blood?

Red Cross Advert (2008)

Soft drinks

Probably one of the most high-budget Dracul-ads has to be this offering from Coca-Cola in 1992, with the inexplicable ending of the count skipping hand in hand out of a castle and into a summer’s day!

Coca-Cola Advert (1992)

Security Systems

This Schlage security system advert from 1987 proved that with the right alarm, you can even put off the Count himself…

Schlage Security Systems Advert (1987)

Batteries 

We talked about Dracula’s many crossovers a while back, but I must admit I never had the Energizer Bunny on my bingo card! I suppose the long life (or afterlife) of vampires was seen as a positive comparison?

Energizer Batteries Advert (1993)

Juice

Dracula has of course had a long-established aversion to the sun – so it makes sense that Sunny D wouldn’t be much to his liking, right?

Sunny D Advert (2008)

Tortilla Chips

Dracula has a fairly limited diet, so what about this advert where apparently Dracula discovers the joy of Doritos?

Doritos Advert (2008)

Beer

Coors Light called upon the Count for this Hallowe’en offering, replete with suitably cheesy accompanying song…

Coors Light Advert (1985)

Cereal

And as a final offering, one of my personal favourite cereals of all time, Crunchy Nut – evidently impossible for even vampires to resist!

Crunchy Nut Advert (1993)

As you can see from above, from cakes to insurance to beer, and indeed even giving blood, nothing has been out of Dracula’s reach when it comes to advertising. Ripe for spoof and some gentle fun, our count might not be scary in these segments but has certainly brought plenty of value to many marketing departments all over the world.