You may have seen the video above making the rounds on the old internet box. An anonymous Russian man is using his horse on a treadmill to power a log splitter. It’s a brilliant idea, but far from new. Back in the late 19th century, the horse treadmill (or "endless floor") was considered the latest in high-tech inventions.
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In the 1950s Americans were obsessed with push-button convenience. The future promised push-button meals, push-button cleaning, and even push-button schools. But this 1955 ad for ball bearings imagined something even weirder for the world of tomorrow: the push-button lumberjack. And amazingly, it was a vision that was delivered on.
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In an effort to stick out from the crowd, advertisers often come up with clever ways to reach consumers outside the traditional world of media. These efforts come in many names and varieties: experiential, guerrilla, wild postings, the list is seemingly endless. But despite how clever many of these marketing tactics may seem, there’s almost always someone who did it first. And then there are those that someone tried a century ago that were never heard of again.
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