Nickelodeon Magazine

Nickelodeon Magazine Commercial- 1993

▶ The original commercial — press play

The kids' magazine that brought Nickelodeon into mailboxes nationwide, packed with comics, pranks, gross-out humor, and celebrity features. Published from 1993 to 2009, it was the must-read subscription for 1990s and 2000s kids.

Following a 1990 pilot, Nickelodeon Magazine launched as a regular subscription magazine in 1993, capitalizing on the network's cultural dominance and kids' appetite for the "Nickelodeon slime" aesthetic. Each issue was a densely packed carnival of content: a bound-in comic-book section featuring original stories and cartoons, pranks and joke collections (often tied to the network's gross-out comedy sensibility), behind-the-scenes celebrity and cartoon-creator interviews, and contests with prizes like movie tickets or exclusive merchandise.

The magazine's visual identity was unmistakably loud and chaotic — the bright "splat" logo, rainbow color schemes, and deliberately messy typography made it visually distinct from mainstream media. For millions of kids, it was the physical anchor of Nickelodeon fandom; arriving in the mailbox was an event. The magazine ran successfully for 16 years, only ceasing publication in 2009 as the media landscape shifted and digital content began competing with print.

Similar items

Video thumbnail — 90s Nickelodeon All That Intro (seasons 1-6)
TV 1994–2000

All That

A live-action sketch-comedy show on Nickelodeon that functioned as "Saturday Night Live for kids." Premiering in April 1994, All That launched stars including Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, and Amanda Bynes while anchoring Nickelodeon's beloved "SNICK" Saturday-night block with its irreverent humor and memorable recurring sketches.

Video thumbnail — Goosebumps: Seasons 1 and 2 (1995-97) Intro and Closing Credits (Original Print) (DVD Quality)
Books 1992–1997

Goosebumps

R.L. Stine's mass-produced horror series for kids, where every book's drippy cover could stop your heart in the school library. Goosebumps sold roughly 4 million copies a month at its mid-90s peak and by 1996 accounted for nearly 15% of Scholastic's entire revenue.

Video thumbnail — Zoobooks (original commercial)
Books 1980–present

Zoobooks

The glossy wildlife magazine that arrived in your mailbox, each issue a deep dive into a single animal. But the TV commercial — promising a free elephant issue and a tiger poster if you called the 1-800 number — ran on infinite repeat in 90s kids' blocks, embedding itself in the memory of everyone who never got that poster.

Video thumbnail — 1990 Nintendo Power Commercial
Books 1988–2012

Nintendo Power

Nintendo's official magazine and the pre-internet bible for stuck kids everywhere. Nintendo Power came packed with glossy fold-out maps, pull-out strategy guides, previews of games you couldn't afford yet, and the exact secret you needed to get past that one impossible level.