Advertising in the 1900’s By Rohan Sharma and Annabelle Bennett

What Was Happening in the 1900’s

● Rapid industrialization and technological advancements○ Early models of Automobiles started appearing in everyday lives

● Influx of Immigrants into the US

● Disease and unsafe livings appeared in overcrowded cities. Smallpox, influenza, tuberculosis, all became very apparent. Working conditions, especially in factories, were rough.

Changes taken place in the advertising industry● Adds first appeared in

newspapers and magazines but as new ways of reaching the public expanded, new forms of advertisements were created○ Signs appeared on billboards,

store windows, outside of buildings, public transportation, etc.

Consumer Culture in the 1900s● Industrialism and consumerism came

together to form a culture of consumption in the US.

● Advertising was the most pervasive technique in promoting consumer culture○ Advertising industry was as good in

convincing people to purchase products as the manufacturing industry was in making said products.

Consumptions effects on social class● Advertisements influenced

the consumption of certain products○ The certain products that

individuals purchased began to differentiate social class and culture between people in the US.

1910’s Advertising

By: Brenna Katz and Sam Lepordo

What was happening historically in this decade?

● World War I began in 1914 and ended in 1918● Great improvements in literacy● Majority of Americans now worked and lived in cities● American society was modernizing, expanding railroads, creating banking

infrastructures ● Mass consumer market became a possibility● Modern comforts and lifestyles were in sharp contrasts to the production of

basic needs such as clothing and food

What changes took place in the advertising industry in this decade?

● In the United States, total advertising had increased from $682 million

in the mid 1910’s to over a billion by 1919

● The major growth in advertising anchored new forms of pop culture

● Improvements in literacy gave chance for advertisements to be read

● Advertisements showed how the american society was modernizing

● Ads took advantage of the insecurities of Modern living, such as

subjects that were often avoided (body odor, tooth loss)

● Ad agencies were on the rise in major cities such as New York, Chicago,

and Philadelphia

○ They revolutionized the industry and became the driving force behind advertisement pitch

● Ads focused on new themes such as:

○ New forms of standard living

○ Solutions to new modern life problems

○ Modern comforts and lifestyles

What style of advertisements were most common in this decade?

Three types of advertisements blew up during this decade:

● Newspapers● Magazines● Billboards were on the rise

○ Not top priority until people began

driving cars

Within the ads:● Images, Photos, and icons

were big in new forms of advertising

● People shown in ads represented how people wanted to be seen instead of how they appeared in reality

Other important/relevant information

● Initially, not much thought or research went into creating advertisements● Two dominant styles of advertising were used during this decade

○ Hard-Sell approach: Focused on honesty and what the consumer needed rather than fancy sales talk that tried to manipulate the consumer into buying something they did not need

○ Soft-sell approach: included detailed artwork and layouts, showed how products could be beneficial to the consumer

Ads in the 1910s:

Advertising in the 1920sAva Liepert and Jack Schuster

What was Happening Historically in the Decade?● Increasing prosperity of the American middle class meant for more disposable

income

● The United States’ economy was good and growing until the stock market crash

in 1929

● Known as the “roaring 20s”, the 1920s was the age of jazz and prohibition

What Changes Took Place in the Advertising Industry in this Decade?

● Advertisements were created by teams of advertisers to create attractive and

persuasive ad campaigns

● Ads showed people enjoying the product, rather than just the product by itself

● Materialism was high in the United States, and lots of money was being spent to

make the most successful advertisements.

What Style of Advertisements Were Most Common in this Decade?

● Billboards, newspapers, magazines and radios.

● Ads showed people with wanted traited like youthfulness, attractiveness,

intelligence, and popularity.

● The company's goal was to convince the consumer that “the key to

increased status, health, happiness,

wealth, and beauty existed in the

mass-produced goods.”

Other Important/Relevant Info● Companies wanted consumers to stick with their product so they pushed a trend

that choosing a rival product could risk the lives of their families because no one

knows what might be in the product.

● Instead of singling out the consumer they did the opposite of that and advertised

the product so that anyone could use it. This made the consumer felt safer

because millions of Americans were using the same product.

Advertising in the 1930’s

By Asher and Joe

What was Happening Historically in this Decade?● The Stock Market crash in 1929 was

the beginning of a ten year depression

in America

○ Due to the Great Depression, companies

had to make massive budget cuts as well as

lay off most of their workers

○ In 1932, about 25% of Americans were

unemployed

○ From 1933-1938, President Roosevelt

launched a series of programs known as

“The New Deal” with the purpose of

saving the country from its economic crisis

Changes in the Advertising Industry● The first commercially licensed

radio station was established in

1930

● Radios made advertising easier

than ever before in the 1930s

○ Public radios were free, easily

accessible from most anywhere in

the country, and also gave people

with literacy issues the same

information that people would

receive by reading a newspaper

Styles in Advertising● Ads mostly ignored the Depression,

depicting a much more financially stable

America

● Focus shifted away from the buyer, and

moved towards the positives of the product

● People would be guilted into buying a

product, being convinced that they would in

some way fail without it

○ This mostly preyed upon people’s struggles of

getting a job due to appearance and efficiency

Other Relevant Information● Advertising became a luxury

○ Advertisement revenue hit the decade’s lowest point in the

decade in 1933 at $1.3 billion

● With very tight budgets, consumers became more

skeptical of the products they were buying, as well

as the advertisements they were being shown

● The Federal Trade Commission's, Securities

Exchange Commission’s, Post Office, and IRS all

became much more regulatory of advertisers

Advertising in the 1940sBilly Dunn and Madelyn Paquette

What was happening historically?

The 1940s saw most of World War II.

1940 to 1945 was occupied by war efforts and the rest of the decade by post-war sentiment.

-Deadliest/bloodiest/most devastating war than any war proceeding it

Changes that took place in the advertising industry?-Early in the 40s, advertisers began getting punished for making false claim about their products

-The War Advertising Council (made up of representatives from throughout the advertising industry) helped regulate and conduct ad campaigns for military recruitment and war bonds

-Television flourished, ads on TV became popular

What style of advertisements were most common?-Movies and TV shows as war ads/propaganda

-Advertisers used patriotic slogans to catch consumers’ attention

Ex) Parker Pens: Parker red, white and blue- the pencil for all Americans. Show your colors with this pencil!

-Radio ads were still more common than TV ads. 22 radio stations had major corporations as their sponsors

-Ads often on classical/opera stations

TrendsFuturism- many people looked forward to their lives after the war. New technology was coming out that would make their lives more efficient/enjoyable, rationing would come to an end, and people had high hopes for the future. Advertisers latched onto these ideas and promised that their wartime research would pay off to make better products after the war. Advertisers deferred their consumers from thinking about the present (the war) and tried to paint a picture of what peacetime life would look like in order to sell their products.

Advertising in the 1950’sBy Tyler Burke and Ian Fay

What was going on at the time?Post war boom (booming economy suburban boom and baby boom)

Cold War was going about

Television was a Huge hit and everyone used it

Families have more financial freedom

What changes took place in the advertising industry in this decade

The 50s was the decade of consumerism

Television was growing in popularity

Money spent on advertising rose from 5.7 billion to 12 billion by the end of the 50s

Animated commercials began to run

What Style of advertisements were most common?Television and newspaper ads were two thirds of the money spent on advertising

Despite the high costs, companies would still shell out the cash for TV ads

Tv ads were new and more influential

Newspaper Ads were usually on the front page and they would be long paragraphs

Stereotypical

What were the ads like TV ads of the early 50s ran for a minute or longer, and would often tell stories

Tv stars would plug products and openly use them on camera

TV shows would have a word from their sponsor

Many ads were offensive and reinforced stereotypes

Newspaper ads still used a lot of text since text was cheaper than images

TV Ads

Advertising in the 1960’sBy Lorelei Poch and Ryan Tobin

National Events● January 20, 1961 John F. Kennedy became president of the United States

● 1964 JFK was shot and Lyndon B. Johnson became president

● In February of 1960, 4 black students sat at an all-white lunch counter and

refused to move

○ After this, demonstrators sat at all-white counters to raise awareness

of acts that were similar to the Jim Crow Laws

● In 1964, LBJ pushed for the Civil Rights Act and in 1965 for the Voting

Rights Act

International Events● LBJ took the Vietnam conflict and turned it into a war

● In 1964, congress gave LBJ all necessary powers to to

fight Vietnam and protect all “American soldiers and

their allies from the Viet Cong.”

● The war soon divided the nation as it continued

○ Youth began to protest against war or move to

Canada to avoid it

○ However, many parents and older people formed a

“silent majority” because of their lack of neither

support nor defiance

● This formed an age gap between America’s youth and its

older generations

Advertising in the 1960’s: YouthBecause of this noticeable age gap and shift in youth’s interest:

● Advertisers aimed their ads towards America’s youth

○ They used popular trends such as fashion, references to the

sexual revolution, and new entertainment ideas

● Youth changed their own culture and proclaimed change as

good, and conformity as bad

○ Advertisers recognized this and added slogans such as

“Wet and Wild”, “Non Conformist Gin”, and

“Youngmobile” to draw in younger audiences

○ Advertisers also used sounds such as heavy guitar music to

attract youth and music listeners as well

Advertising in the 1960’s: Older Generations-Car Advertisements were effective in attracting older

generations by making certain vehicles seem cool and make

older people feel young again

-One Ad Agency invited drivers to experience the “Dodge

Fever”, this helped older drivers feel excited and youthful

-Oldsmobile commercials were also exciting with good

music and offered people an “escape from the ordinary”

-The Oldsmobile was billed as the “Youngmobile” due to its

vibrant advertisements through commercials, this attracted

older generations as well as young

Advertising in the 1970sBen Short and Dan Hilf

Historical Happenings

-More common for women to be working; about 50% of women held jobs by the mid-70s

-The government began to step up its regulation of advertising claims, especially those targeted toward children

-The public had started to become disillusioned towards advertisements; advertising executives were rated last in a poll of the honesty of various professions

Changes in the Advertising Industry

-Advertisers began to appeal to working women and set standards to avoid stereotyping women

-Advertising agencies began using computers to analyze consumer data and make projections based on certain marketing strategies

Styles of Advertisements

-Ads during the 1970s shifted towards “comparative advertising”, in which the product is compared to be better than the competition

-i.e. a commercial for Dictaphone (a typewriter company) says “Bad news for IBM” (who also manufactured typewriters).

Government and Advertising

-During the early 1970s, the Federal Trade Commission forced companies to do “corrective advertising” in the case that their ads were false. The FTC ordered Warner-Lambert to spend $10 million to run ads that said Listerine did not prevent colds or sore throats, as it had previously stated

-The FTC banned unclear, exaggerated, or false advertising claims

-Government regulation of advertising fell off after the 1976 Supreme Court decision that “commercial speech” was a form of free speech

Advertising in the 1980sBy Gabe Longtine and Caroline James

What was happening historically in the 1980’s● The Cold War was still in progress● Ronald Reagan was president, and was revolutionizing economics● The Berlin wall was taken down.● Movies like ET, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Pretty in

Pink were being released.● MTV was debuted and helped Michael Jackson’s Thriller reach 600,000

album sales in 5 days.

Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” Ad campaign struck gold and became so successful, there were T-Shirts and underwear that used the iconic slogan. It was even used by the democratic candidate of the time, addressing Ronald Reagan, during the presidential election. This campaign showed the power of adverising, it can turn anybody into a celebrity.

Consumer Culture● Companies strived to embody culture (ex. Nike) and used a promise of

the American Dream to sell their products● Advertising began to rely on celebrity endorsements and faces of their

brands; products are not simply products, they are a way of life● Ads frequently told richer Americans the only way to be cool was to

wear the right clothes, drink the right drinks, and drive the right cars.● Ads that targeted poorer demographics often promised better lifestyles,

for example Miller Brewing Company had a slogan “High Life.”

The 1987 California Raisins stole the hearts of countless Americans

In 1987, California Raisins released an ad campaign consisting of 3 claymation raisins. The ad campaign became so successful, it sold T-shirts, Action figures, and had a half hour special on CBS called meet the raisins! The raisins raked in billions of dollars off merchandise alone. The raisins also had guest voices of popular singers like Michael Jackson and Ray Charles.

Advertising in the 1990’sBy: Noah Gies and Elliot McCauley

History of the 1990’s● Hubble telescope (1990)● Germany reunited (1990)● Magic Johnson announces he has HIV (1991)● Rodney King riots in LA (1992)● Official end to the Cold war (1992)● Ebay founded (1995)● OJ Simpson found not guilty (1995)● Oklahoma City bombings (1995)● First cloned mammal born, Dolly the sheep (1996)● First Harry Potter book sold (1997)● Bill Clinton impeached (1998)● Columbine High School shootings (1999)

Changes to advertising in the 90s

● With many new popular items, advertising was able to be used in new places.

● Television, radio, magazines, and the internet were all very popular methods of advertisement.

● The ad campaign “Got milk” became very popular, the infamous milk mustache became iconic and celebrities and athletes were quickly jumping into the “Got Milk” advertisements.

● The 90s introduced new methods of advertisements such as infomercials and telemarketing.

Telemarketing

- Telemarketers sold phone service plans, magazines, credit cards, and other services.

- was an effective way of advertising because it was inexpensive but their profit margins were high, making $650 billion by 1999.

Infomercials Infomercials were designed to entertain and sell.

Infomercials attempted to hide the fact that they were selling a product by showcasing celebrities on the shows.

Because of infomercials Juicers went from a $10 million industry to a $380 million industry.

Product placement Product placement is seen in television and movies and is generally a subtle form of advertising.

The brand name isn’t openly advertised on the show, but all of the characters use the product.

By doing this it increases the likelihood of consumers to buying their product.