Charles Atlas Ltd.: The Insult That Made A Man Out Of "Mac" campaign

Judson Knight

There were few American males born in the 1960s or before who did not have boyhood memories of the Charles Atlas Ltd.

Charles Atlas Ltd.: The Insult That Made A Man Out Of "Mac" campaign

Judson Knight

Overview

There were few American males born in the 1960s or before who did not have boyhood memories of the Charles Atlas Ltd. bodybuilding ads, which appeared in comic books and other magazines appealing to young men. Indeed, with the persistence of the ads and the purchase of the company by Jeffrey C. Hogue in 1997, it was likely that a whole new generation would be exposed to a campaign that had long been a touchstone of American manhood.

The ads appeared in many incarnations,...

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands