Shieber: The Black Jack World Series in 1919
From SABR member Tom Shieber at Baseball Researcher on June 30, 2019:
This year marks the centennial of what is often referred to as the “Black Sox World Series.” But before it earned that infamous nickname it was more accurately called the “Black Jack World Series.” Here’s why …
In 1919, the American Chicle Company, makers of Adams Pure Chewing Gum, embraced the World Series as a way to market their product. The company’s vice president, John F. Bresnahan, devised a scheme knowing that all eyes would be on the much-ballyhooed World Championship between the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds. Just days before the series began, Bresnahan launched an advertising blitz in newspapers across the country, promoting Black Jack, the company’s licorice-flavored gum. As later described in the October 18, 1919, issue of The Fourth Estate, a weekly magazine devoted to newspaper advertising:
The idea of hooking up Black Jack with a big news event seemed too good to be limited to one city, so Mr. Bresnahan straightway arranged for a series of Black Jack ads in ninety newspapers.
The copy built on the theme of “nerves” in baseball, and o chewing gum for nerves. The happy combination was treated sympathetically by artists, and mats were rushed to the newspapers. … “Total figures are not available but it is likely that millions of extra papers were sold on game days during the series. Every paper carried a sympathetic baseball and gum message to men, and men are our greatest customers. The copy appeal, the product and the news all synchronized perfectly.”
Here are the ads which ran every day from October 1 (the first day of the World Series) through October 10 (the day after the final game of the World Series).
Read the full article here: https://baseballresearcher.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-black-sox-jack-world-series.html
Originally published: July 9, 2019. Last Updated: July 9, 2019.