Here are two examples of Hugo Pratt‘s Corto Maltese used in advertising.
The first one is fairly straightforward – a fragrance company uses Corto’s likeness as a symbol for masculinity and attractiveness. They might as well have used a thirteen-a-dozen “beautiful model” face – the only reason why Corto appears in this ad, is because it was published in a special edition of the French National Geographic Magazine, about the way comics were influenced by National Geographic and explorative sciences in general.
The second one is much more interesting. It is an ad by a Belgian banking company, Dexia, promoting its financing services for people who want to build a house. They want to convince their customers to think far ahead, and take up long term loans (hence the baseline “Take your time to build”). To visualise this, they use the image of a comic as a work of art that is created over time. A very nice idea, and very well executed.
wow, very nice and incredible post.