Selective Amnesia

All you wanted to know about advertising, but were afraid to ask. Part 1

There is a tendency, especially among parents, to rubbish the art, the industry and the great sensation that is Advertising. My reply to them all is – go back the ages. You will find evidence that Advertising has been quite a draw, in business, leisure and what not.

Archaeologists have found evidence of advertising dating back to the 3000s B.C, among the Babylonians. Once again marking the difference between the well spoken Chicken and the reserved Tortoise. While we are at the subject of tortoises, do you know he is the most used symbol of advertising, along with his friend, the Hare??

One of the first known methods of advertising was the outdoor display, usually an eye-catching sign painted on the wall of a building. Archaeologists have uncovered many such signs, notably in the ruins of ancient Rome and Pompeii. An outdoor advertisement excavated in Rome offers property for rent, and one found painted on a wall in Pompeii calls the attention of travellers to a tavern situated in another town.

During the Middle Ages, Buzz, otherwise known as Word of Mouth Advertising, gained popularity. Arab traders hired citizens who stood in the middle of the streets, calling people to taste or try the wares of their shops. These people were very popular in the American Colonies, the forerunners of current day radio and TV announcers.

Although graphic forms of advertising appeared early in history, printed advertising made little headway until the invention of the movable-type printing press by German printer Johannes Gutenberg about 1450. This invention made the mass distribution of posters and circulars possible. The first advertisement in English appeared in 1472 in the form of a handbill announcing a prayer book for sale. Two hundred years later, the first newspaper ad was published offering a reward for the return of 12 stolen horses. In the American colonies, the Boston News-Letter, the first regularly published newspaper in America, began carrying ads in 1704, and about 25 years later Benjamin Franklin made ads more readable by using large headlines.

Modern Day advertising began in the year 1841, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Volney B Palmer set up shop to buy advertising space at discounts and then sold them at higher price to the advertisers.