Advertising - A History

Advertising is defined as a form of communication used to encourage,persuade or manipulate an audience to take an action. Although this concept may seem modern it is in fact a very old one. In Ancient Egypt, papyrus was used to advertise in walls as posters. In Ancient Greece and in the Roman Empire, commercial and political ads were widespread even before the birth of Christ.

Fig. 1 - Propaganda have taken many shapes and styles through the years

In the Middle Ages, as the commercial and urban renaissance began, ads gained a role of unmatched importance, being used to publicize products to the analphabet population with the use of images. Town criers (people who would vocally advertise products in the town center) were also employed.

Fig. 2 - An example of early 20th Century ads

With the rise of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th Century, ads skyrocketed in England. They primarily focused in two emerging markets: books, that were becoming very affordable thanks to the printing press; and medicine, that was being widely requested due to the diseases that were ravaging Europe.

Fig. 3 - Here are present most of the artistic elements of late Victorian propaganda

As industry spread and an improductive excedent was accumulated, an industry grew for advertising. One of the pioneers of this revolution was Thomas J. Barratt, who started the use of slogans, images and catchy phrases, that were used for great effect. In 1836 newspapers began to adopt ads to lower costs, and in 1840 the first ad agency was created. With the 2nd Industrial Revolution the advertising market grew again. By 1920 subliminal messages had become a common tool.

Fig. 4 - Here is an early example of government-commisioned ads

Advertising's final evolution came with mass media; thanks to it messages were able to be transmitted around the globe in mere seconds. With this power, companies (and now, governments), began to promote themselves worldwide; a situation reinforced even more with the coming of the Internet.
Nowadays, advertising has become more than a mean to publicise information. It is now a symbol of global capitalism, and will most likely remain so for the next thousand years.

Fig. 5 - Modern propaganda is dictated by quick and direct slogans- such as this one.