Kodak, Then and Now

Kodak has been in the news a lot lately and most of it hasn’t been good. The New York Times reported last week about their woes and how the stock price has been tumbling.

It’s not looking great for Big Yellow.

Which is sort of stunning. The company brought us photography as we know it and has managed to have a stunning history of ad campaigns. Even those who have never threaded a roll of Kodacolor into a camera know what a “Kodak moment” is.

I grew up on Kodachrome. My early years – all on Kodachrome. (Okay, maybe a couple of Ektachrome moments.) When I started to learn the chemical side of photography (many years after learning the mechanical side), it was all on Kodak stuff – Tri-X film, D76 and Dektol developers.

But it’s the ads … man, they make the greatest ads. Check out these ones …

(Loved that moment just past four minutes.)

And, while not an ad (and I’ve run this here before), this may be the greatest corporate motivational presentation ever. Too bad it may not have worked …