Superchannel newspaper ad (1988)

This print ad appeared in the Calgary Herald newspaper on Friday, July 22, 1988. It’s an ad for Superchannel (or First Choice–Superchannel), a premium cable television and satellite channel that operated in western Canada from 1983 until 2001. The service held a regional legal monopoly on movie-based premium TV service in western and northern Canada from 1984 until the launch of the present-day Super Channel in 2007.

Superchannel was the precursor to what is now known as Movie Central. See more details on its Wikipedia page.

The Super Channel logo is either custom, or based on an unidentified typeface that has been squished and manipulated by the designer. “Your Best Summer Movie Value!” is set in Van Dijk Bold, a 1980s classic by Letraset. “Coming to Superchannel” is in Repro Script, while body text is set in Helvetica.

To me, Van Dijk is such a perfect typeface for a tagline for a 1980s era advertisement.