In the mid-1980s, readers of the Sunday Times Magazine section were treated to a delightful full-page color ad campaign illustrated by Ronald Searle. With the recurring slogan "There's no Times like the present," a page from June 1986 features royalty reading the Times and the single adjective "Peerless." Indeed.
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| Ronald Searle There's no Times like the present. Peerless The New York Times Magazine, June 22, 1986 |
Searle chooses not to include the rear chair legs on the ornate royal throne, probably because they might be distracting or confusing in this head-on view. He is clearly not afraid of ornament, but Searle does nevertheless strive for clarity.
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| Ronald Searle eBay listing accessed November 8, 2021 |
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| Ronald Searle eBay item description |
March 25, 2023 Update: Sold!
Note: The page described as Gripping from this ad campaign by Ronald Searle may be seen here. (It's about tennis, remember?) Another hilarious page, Elevating, was published in the Times Magazine on February 2, 1987. It also appears on page 92 of Ronald Searle's America (2016), compiled by Matt Jones. Has it already been five years?
These selfsame pages may also be seen on Perpetua, the Ronald Searle Tribute blog, which is also the brainchild of Matt Jones. The post is called "Advertising Part 2" and today's king will no doubt eventually find his way there. Just scroll down to the end.
There's more. My archived Attempted Bloggery post here shows Searle's original watercolor art for two unpublished Times ads.
There are definitely other published Searle ads for the New York Times in glorious color. If you have any of these, please forward scans or photos. Sometime's it's hard to fathom the extent of the Times's efforts to advertise the paper to its own readers.
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