Game over, here are the Ad Trivia Quiz answers

Dear Adgrunts, ad-guessers and ad-dicts - y'all didn't do too well on that quiz I'm afraid. On the one hand I feel sorry that we made it so tough, on the other I'm really surprised that you actually thought it was that tough.
OK, so I admit it, lots of 'urban ad-myths' were chosen for the quiz as I'm getting really tired of hearing professionals parrot that bullshit when it has no base in reality, so a lazy google-hunt might turn up the wrong answer, but a more thorough one would have led you to the right answer. Friends call me "sticky brains" because stupid trivia will never leave my head, but honestly now, was this quiz that hard? Lets have a look at each question and answer complete with links to reliable sources.

#1 Did the Chevrolet Nova bomb in Mexico because "Nova" means "No go"?
A: No. This is an urban myth possibly started by someone with terrible Spanish skills. To quote the leading authority on modern urban myths, Snopes Urban Myth website:

First of all, the phrase "no va" (literally "doesn't go") and the word "nova" are distinct entities with different pronunciations in Spanish: the former is two words and is pronounced with the accent on the second word; the latter is one word with the accent on the first syllable. Assuming that Spanish speakers would naturally see the word "nova" as equivalent to the phrase "no va" and think "Hey, this car doesn't go!" is akin to assuming that English speakers would spurn a dinette set sold under the name Notable because nobody wants a dinette set that doesn't include a table.

#2 Where did the Electrolux poster headlined "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux" run?
A: United Kingdom. It was a poster done by the ad agency Cogent Elliot in London. Like the Chevy myth before it, the tales of Electrolux not knowing the local idiom (because they're Swedish) or that they brought that line to America from English-speaking markets overseas are both hogwash. The poster ran in the United Kingdom and the pun was intentional. You can even see a bad photocopy of the outdoor poster from an old scrapbook here on AdLand. So while the whole world "knows" the story of a scandinavian 'badly dubbed' ad that used the word "sucks" in a headline in the United States nobody has an image of it or proves it in any way. It's time to stop being so gullable.

#3 Who was Doyle Dane & Bernbach's very first client?
A: Orbach's, famously poached from Grey when Bill left there. Even the very first hit on Google which is some student study of DDB reveals the order of their three first clients: "Success with the Orbach's account brought Whitey Ruben, owner of Levy's Jewish Rye bread to DDB's doorstep." and later Polaroid knocked on their door. A short bio of Bill's life reads the same: CIA advertising : "Fortunately for DDB, one of Grey's largest clients, Orbach's sought Bernbach's creativity regardless of where he called home, making the department store DDB's first client and springboard for future success."

#4 Which client did George say "You make the matzoh, I'll make the ads!" to?
A: Had you googled the phrase "You make the matzoh, I'll make the ads!" in quotes like that you would have gotten one single hit, a page from AdLand's book section George Lois, What's the big Idea? where George tells us "I had designed a dramatic poster for New York's most important maker of matzohs, A. Goodman & Sons in Long Island City. "

#5 How many shots did it take to get the perfect one for the Honda Cog advert?
A: 606, as it said in countless newspaper articles. Again, Snopes will confirm this number , and if you had watched the Honda Cog commercial here that little bit of trivia is posted with it. ;)

#6 How much is it to be a super adgrunt for a full year?
A: 60 €. Because 5 € times 12 months is 60€. You know what's funny though? A few people thought it was $99.95 - but that's what adcritic costs for a year. Adforum is where I got the $299 a year digit from.

#7 Who coined the term "subliminal advertising"?
A: Call Snopes again as they have a whole page on subliminal ads and state quite clearly It was James Vicary who coined the term "subliminal advertising." The ever useful Wikipedia backs this up under the heading "Mind control".

#8 Did tachistoscope flashed messages in a movie increase the sales of Coke?
A: No significant increase. As the link at Snopes above reads:

"Vicary's duplication of his original experiment produced no significant increase in popcorn or Coca-Cola sales. Eventually Vicary confessed that he had falsified the data from his first experiments, and some critics have since expressed doubts that he actually conducted his infamous Ft. Lee experiment at all."

and if you had checked AdLand adbooks again, there's knowledge in the "Subliminal advertising section" Subliminal Advertising? from Adcult USA

After WTWO in Bangor, Maine, conducted a publicity stunt experimenting with on-air suggestion, the FCC ordered Vicary's firm, the Subliminal Projection Company, to conduct a closed-circuit demonstration in Washington, D.C. During January 1958, before and audience of members in Congress, bureaucrats from appropriate agencies, reporters and broadcasters, Vicary flashed his "Eat popcorn." Printer's Ink, the advertising trade journal commented, "Having gone to see something that is not supposed to be seen, and having not seen it, as forecast, the FCC and Congressmen seemed satisfied." After the show Senator Charles E. Potter waggishly said "I think I want a hot dog."

#9 How many times was the Apple 1984 ad aired?
A: C'mon! You knew the right answer to this one in the back of your head no matter what the polished myth says. No bazillion dollar Ridley Scott production was ever run just once, that makes no sense. I even gave you a huge hint with the "to be eligible for awards shows" answer. You know that us ad folk will run an ad on late night cable, just to meet some awards date-of-airing criteria. Details in quotes from the book Apple Confidential:

The famous "1984" commercial that launched the Macintosh during the Super Bowl in 1984 is purported to have been shown only once; but to qualify for 1983's advertising awards, the commercial also aired on December 15 th at a small TV station in Twin Falls, Idaho (KMVC Channel 11), and in movie theaters for weeks starting on January 17th.

#10 Who said: "the creative process is really a very structured thing that has to do with problem-solving"?
A: In The Copy Workshop Workbook by Bruce Bendinger on page 121 in chapter 8 titled "Discovering the Objective" you'll find that Jay Chiat said that quote. Since there is no trace of this on the web (until now) this was our really hard question. ;)

Like I said earlier, we fully expected people to google like mad, perhaps share answers with their friends, even post the whole Quiz' solutions in their blogs - but it looks you all went the honest route and battled with your wits alone. Aaaaw. Methinks adpeople's nasty and dishonest reputation is quite unjust - it does not apply to adgrunts who are a much cooler breed. ;)

Since we didn't fulfill our planned quote of 100 perfect tens, I decided to upgrade every adgrunt who dared to take the quiz. There's a Swedish expression: "Friskt vågat, hälften vunnet" which translates loosely to those who dare win half. Well in this case, you win it all.