Advertising IntroAdvertising Intro

1926 Ad Quote1926 Ad Quote

• “Historians of the future will not have to rely on the meager collections of museums, will not have to pore over obscure documents and ancient prints, to reconstruct a faithful picture of 1926. Day by day a picture of our time is recorded completely and vividly in the advertisements of American newspapers and magazines. Were all other sources of information on life today to fail, the advertising would reproduce for future times, as it does for our own, the action, color, variety, dignity, and aspirations of the American Scene.”

—N.W. Ayer and Son (Philadelphia ad agency), 1926

Old vs. NewOld vs. New

Old vs. New AdsOld vs. New AdsOld Ads• Visual Elements

• Black and white• Complex & simple (showing

product or other images)• Some strange images

• Text Elements• Lots of it• Message tells a story or

simply tells why the product is better—connects with a need

• Describes some gender roles, ideas of beauty, relationships

• Contains Taglines

New Ads• Visual Elements

• Colorful• Complex and simple

(product or other images)• Some strange images

• Text Elements• Not a lot of it• Message communicates an

idea—connects with a need• Describes some ideas about

beauty, relationships• Contains Taglines

QuestionsQuestions

• So, after describing the ads from the past and present, respond to these questions in your journal…

• What similarities do the ads from the past and present share?

• What differences?

• How accurately do they reflect our culture?

Pair and SharePair and Share

• Share your response with a partner.

• Did they notice anything you missed?

• Share with the class.

Today’s AdsToday’s Ads

• If ads do, in part, reflect our culture, and, according to the statistic in Merchants of Cool, you are subject to 3,000 ads per day, what are some of the most popular of today’s ads saying?

• Which ad campaigns stick out in your mind as the best? Why?

• Which ad campaigns stick out as the worst? Why?

We know a world…

We know a world…

• Populated by Mr. Clean, the Michelin Man, and Colonel Sanders;

• In which dogs and cats sing into microphones about dinner choices;

• In which raisins dance and household bugs spill their guts;

• In which a giant green man in a scarf and cookie elves can be trusted

We know a world…

We know a world…

• In which “Because I’m worth it,” “You deserve a break today,” “Be all that you can be,” and “We try harder” are taken at face value;

• In which you can feel “really clean”;

• In which various tigers tells us what to put into our cereal bowls and gas tanks;

• In which we are encouraged to be a Pepper

It is a world ofIt is a world of• Feigned sincerity and eternal optimism,

• With lots and lots of small problems that we can master.

• Filled with power…

• Where more people report crying over a greeting card company’s advertising than over any other regularly televised event.

From James Twitchell, Twenty Ads That Shook the World (2000)

Your homeworkYour homeworkLook at the ad campaigns that you wrote down as being “the best” and write down your response to the following questions…

1. What do these ad campaigns say about our current culture?

2. How accurately do they reflect the current culture?