The Vintagent Ads: Kodak Kodacolor VR

KODAK KODACOLOR VR (1985)

Run Time: 1:00
Producer: Kodak
Agency: J. Walter Thompson
Key Cast: America

FILM MAKERS

In 1880, a young hobbyist photographer and school dropout named George Eastman became one of the first to successfully manufacture dry plates commercially in the United States. With the slogan “you press the button, we do the rest,” Eastman put the first simple camera into the hands of a world of consumers. The Eastman Kodak Company was formed in 1892 and dominated photography for the 20th century through innovations like roll film (1889) and the Brownie camera (1900), making snapshots a mass phenomenon. Though a leader in film and technology (even for Hollywood), Kodak struggled to adapt to the digital age, filing for bankruptcy in 2012 but later restructuring and diversifying into advanced materials and pharmaceuticals. Today, Just as Eastman had a goal to make photography ‘as convenient as the pencil,’ Kodak continues to expand the ways images touch people’s daily lives.

J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was the legendary advertising agency behind many of Kodak’s most iconic campaigns. Building the brand into a household name by focusing on capturing life’s emotional moments. They coined phrases like the “Kodak Moment,” and leveraged the brand’s recognizable yellow color for decades. JWT’s work helped cement Kodak’s cultural status through memorable advertising for print, radio, and TV, creating emotional connections with consumers. After 66 years, the long-standing partnership ended in 1997.

The iconic Kodak “Kodacolor” commercials of the 1970’s and 80’s featured the line “because time goes by” (or variations like “the times of your life”). Most famously using Paul Anka’s song “Times of Your Life” to evoke nostalgia for captured memories. Emphasizing memories in color.

Kodacolor VR (Vari-Granularity) was a popular series of color negative films from Kodak, and marked Kodak’s shift to T-Grain emulsions, featuring tabular silver halide crystals for finer grain, increased sharpness, and enhanced color saturation especially at higher speeds, and better performance in low light. Though discontinued, vintage Kodacolor VR films are still sought after by film photographers for their distinctive look, often found expired but still usable. Its iconic look has even inspired digital presets (like Lightroom presets) and film simulation recipes, particularly for Fujifilm cameras.