This isn’t some clever photoshop job. It’s true. In the 1960s, “The Flintstones” was actually sponsored by Winston cigarettes and the ad spot showed our favorite prehistoric couples smoking.
The ad starts out with a joke about the men relaxing while women do the hard work, then Fred and Barney pull out a pack of smokes and extol the virtues of Winston: “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.”
But don’t think this is a proof that Winston was aiming at kids. “The Flintstones” originally aired at 8:30 p.m. and was considered a racy adult-audience program. After all, it was one of the first to show a couple in bed.
But by 1963, once Pebbles was born, Winston’s dropped out of the picture and Welch’s grape juice and jellies became the show’s main sponsor.
Over the years, “The Flintstones” were also featured in ads for other products like Busch Beer, Prell shampoo, and of course their own brand Flintstones Vitamins.
Ironically, or perhaps as proof of the evolution of the show’s audience, the Flintstones did a Public Service Announcement for the American Cancer Association in 1968, which was two years after the show stopped making new episodes.
“The Flintstones” ran for six seasons, from Sept. 1960 to April 1966.
By 1970, Congress had passed an act banning cigarette advertising on TV and radio.
