The History of Advertising

Advertising has experienced some major milestones – think the emergence of the printing press in the 1440s, or the huge impact of television.

Since its very first beginnings, which are thought to date back to steel carvings made by the ancient Egyptians, advertising has constantly had to adapt and change to suit new mediums and an increasingly savvy audience.

But there’s been one medium that’s had a bigger impact on advertising than anything before it.

The wonderful World Wide Web.

The internet has revolutionized advertising in the most astounding way. Not only has it changed the way ads are broadcast, but it’s changed the way consumers act towards them.

Then: Traditional Advertising

Let’s take things back to the pre-internet days. The days when advertising was carried out via cheesy infomercials on radio, fuzzy old televisions, and billboards. This was the golden era of advertising, when the whole movement was considered a huge part of society – almost taking on a cultural status.

The first TV ad popped up on screens in 1941 in America – probably a lot later than you’d imagine. Before the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies played each other, viewers saw a brief commercial for Bulova clocks and watches.

Such a small moment set the precedent for the next seventy years.

Back then, adverts were a staunch part of society. Despite the 50s being a tense decade for America during the Cold War, TV viewers felt optimistic and were beginning to loosen their purse strings as prosperity began to rise.

Characters were built around products to create a semblance of connection between viewers and brands (though this idea of a consumer connection didn’t become a priority until later), and famous faces were brought it to sell everything from washing machines to cigarettes.

Take the Marlborough Man, for example, who became a recognizable cultural figure between the 1960s and 1990s. The aim was to turn filtered cigarettes from a feminine phenomenon to a more masculine one with the help of rugged cowboys and a stream of moody looking men. Even today it’s considered one of the best advertisement campaigns of all time.

On television, products and characters began to go hand and hand. Let’s take cereal as an example. Think Tony the Tiger and Frosted Flakes, or the Snap, Crackle, and Pop gnomes for Rice Krispies – both of which are still going strong today.

Despite the different characters and the vastly different selection of products that began to emerge, ads at this time had one purpose: to sell.

Yes, these characters were central to the ads and played a major part in creating an ad culture for consumers, but the product was always at the forefront.

It might have seemed like Tony the Tiger or the Marlboro Man were the epicenters of their aligning ad campaigns, but they simply served as a tool to sell, sell, sell.

Now: Different Motives

Today, the shift in the advertising world has seen the rise of other motives when it comes to commercials. Rather than the sell mentality, ads are focused on community building and brand awareness.

The product is no longer the centerpiece.

The solution to the consumer’s problem is, and hey, guess what, the product just so happens to provide that solution.

Let’s take an example that’s not too dissimilar to the character-led ads of the past. The Dairy Milk Gorilla ad in 2007 didn’t even show or mention Cadbury – the company it was supposed to be advertising.

The simple nature of the ad leant itself perfectly to spoofs, one key way viewers can interact with a brand – almost like a back and forth dialogue. To date, there are more than 300 spoofs of the ad.

Taking things online, Lowe’s “Fix in Six” home improvement ads filmed through the 6-second Vine app aren’t overt ads. The genius videos show solutions to DIY problems in six seconds or less – not only are they fun to watch, but they are also actionable (basically, a dream combination).

The humorous take on home DIY problems has helped it create a friendly persona for its consumers, taking it a step away from “advertiser”. “Fix in Six” isn’t overtly linked to Lowe’s either. There’s no “hey, this is Lowe’s and you need to buy everything in this ad from us” spiel.