Marvel’s Hostess Fruit Pie Adverts from the ’80s Are Even More Outrageous Than You’ve Heard

Marvel’s collaboration with Hostess Fruit Pies created some of the most outrageous advertisments of the 1970s and 1980s. Over the years, Marvel has been no stranger to bizarre team-ups. Whether it’s a simple shoutout to a popular product, or teaming up with the infamous hockey mascot Gritty, there have been a fair share of ridiculous ads featuring Marvel’s heroes. However, none have been as outrageously funny as the company’s team-up with Hostess.

During the ’70s and ’80s, Hostess reached out to Marvel, as well as DC, to compile a series of original comics featuring their iconic heroes in an effort to market their pastries. What resulted were some of the silliest one-page comic stories fans will ever find, most of which are still available today in reprints of classic comics from that era. These ads are so famous, in fact, that they’ve even been spoofed in popular media. It was a wild advertising campaign, and these are just some of the silliest ads that have ever found their way into the pages of Marvel Comics.

10 A Delightful, Delicious Concept Showcases the Perfect Formula Of A Marvel Hostess Ad

“Hulk Vs. The Phoomie Goonies”

This brief confrontation between the Hulk and a band of revolutionaries dubbing themselves the “Phoomie Goonies” perfectly encapsulates a standard Hostess ad. Bruce Banner is shown to have taken a side job as a mailman, taking a break from his normal work as a hero. However, when trouble erupts at the post office, he Hulks out to face them. The solution to the problem, and the alternative to prison for the “Goonies”: Hostess. The fact that Marvel deemed these pies so delicious that they could stop crime is absolutely hilarious, and it was a winning formula that made these ads so popular.

9 A Villain is Born In The Pages Of A Marvel Hostess Ad

Human Torch In “The Icemaster Cometh”

When it came to Marvel’s Hostess ads, a one-off joke could become something more in the overall Marvel Universe. Case in point, this ad featuring the Human Torch introduced a villain named Icemaster. Not even the Torch was able to dispose of him, at least not without resorting to Hostess Fruit Pies, managing to warm him up with the pastries’ flavors. Hilariously, this wasn’t the last time readers encountered this villain, as he would later become canon in the Marvel Universe. The impact these ads had on Marvel is amazing, and Icemaster cemented Hostess as one of the most influential partners in their long history.

8 Marvel’s Oddest Villain Falls For The Easiest Trap

Daredevil’s “Dare-Double”

This advertisement starring Daredevil did follow a fairly standard Hostess formula. However, what’s interesting here is that the villain, Rod Rainey, pretended to be the Man Without Fear to have him take the blame for his crimes. He even went on a massive crime spree in which he’s already “stolen millions in two weeks.” The fact that a box full of Hostess Fruit Pies was what ultimately unravels his criminal antics certainly made reader question how in the world he not only fell for an easy trap, but also got away with his criminal career for as long as he did.

7 Somehow Even The Ultimate Weapon Is Tempted By Fruit Pies

Torgo & The Thing

In one of the strangest Hostess crossovers with Marvel, the iconic Fantastic Four hero, the Thing, found himself pinned under a hydraulic press. Upon escaping, he came face-to-face with the robotic villain Torgo, resulting in an epic brawl. However, Thing quickly pointed out that the fight could be a quick, boring one, and instead offered Torgo some Hostess Fruit Pies as an olive branch. Surprisingly, Torgo accepted it and ate the cakes. It was perhaps odd to have Torgo, a sentient robot, develop tastebuds. Nevertheless, he proved to be as susceptible to Hostess as any flesh-and-blood Marvel villain.

6 Steve Rogers Literally Serves Fruit Pies On His Iconic Shield

Captain America in “Fury Unleashed”

What’s odd about this ad featuring Captain America is how it completely contradicts his own logic. When Cap found Nick Fury being strangled by a villain called the Trapster, he reasonably assessed that his shield and fists were of no use, concerned that Fury could be killed if he tried anything. However, he completely neglected this reasoning by throwing his shield anyway. The only difference was that he stacked a variety of Fruit Pies on it, essentially turning it into a serving dish. As expected, by Hostess logic, this was the right decision, as it led Trapster to promptly unhand Fury, saving his life.

Spider-Man in “The Trap”

This ad depicted a rare win for Marvel’s baddies as they managed to capture Spider-Man and lock him up. His chances of escape seemed bleak, until it was revealed he had a Hostess Fruit Pie on him, which he declared he “never goes anyplace without.” The fact that he managed to escape captivity without needing to embrace his dark side, but instead by bribing his captors with a pastry, is incredibly funny, especially considering the armed guard essentially accepted death from his boss just so he could eat one.

4 Hostess Found Another Way to Calm Hulk Down

Hulk In “Leave Me Alone”

MCU fans know the most infamous methods to calm the Hulk down was his “lullaby” system introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron. However, Hostess actually found an even wilder way to get him to relax in this hilarious ad, which featured the Hulk violently reacting to a group of people who simply wanted to go to the park for a parade and picnic, all because he wanted peace and quiet. He even threatened to kill them with a boulder, until he was offered a Hostess Fruit Pie. From there, he ate the pies with his new friends.

Matt Murdoch Vs. Johnny Punk

This hilarious ad from Hostess actually presented fans with a little-known fact about Daredevil. In an effort to prevent a crowd of people from being brainwashed by Johnny Punk, Daredevil threw the villain and his henchmen some Hostess Fruit Pies, as the ads always do. However, as he leaves, he mentions that the real reason he wanted to put a stop to them was because he wouldn’t “have to listen to his music anymore!” Given Daredevil’s super-hearing, it makes total sense why bad music, while not his own personal Kryptonite, would be a real nuisance to him.

2 Tony Stark Subverts The Hostess Comic Formula

Iron Man vs. Bank Robbers

Leave it to Iron Man to completely break the mold of a typical Hostess Fruit Pie ad. What started out as a fairly familiar set-up quickly devolved into chaos, as he dealt with bank robbers who have taken people hostage. Tony sent in a cart of Fruit Pies, setting up the classic joke of them giving up in exchange. However, he quickly flipped the script, by busting in and beating them up anyway, to ensure they wouldn’t attack. It was a completely unexpected, but brilliant change of pace for these advertisements, while also keeping the same level of goofiness that made these ads iconic.

1 Hulk Nearly Killed These Villains For Fruit Pies

The Incredible Hulk Vs. The Roller Disco Devils

Out of all the Hostess ads for Marvel, this was by far the most violent. The set-up showed a group of villains named the Roller Disco Devils, as they dominated the streets, not allowing anyone to go out and buy Hostess Fruit Pies. However, the Hulk stepped in, rolling them up tightly in asphalt. While they were likely okay by Marvel standards, there was no way anyone could survive this in reality. The fact that this was all done though so Hulk’s neighborhood could go out and buy Fruit Pies perfectly shows just how outrageous these 70s and 80s Marvel Hostess advertisements were.