The origins of advertising - Unit 10

C2 Proficiency · Gapped Text · Close-up C2 Workbook, National Geographic Learning

You are going to read an extract from an article. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the extract. Choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap (1–7). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

The origins of advertising

One need look no further than failed advertising campaigns. Some went too far in their shock value, had to be apologised for and hurt the brand more than they helped. In one example, a game manufacturer, in order to promote the carnal violence visible in the game, held an event which showcased an actual deceased goat.

For better or worse, there was no stopping the budding advertising industry. Agencies started to spring up and with that came campaigns. The first successful campaign was for the British soap manufacturer Pears. With the help of chairman Thomas James Barrett, the company successfully linked a catchy slogan with high culture.

In contrast to the adverts being produced for the literate populace of this region, text was largely absent from adverts that proliferated in the towns and cities of medieval Europe. To circumvent this obstacle, adverts used commonly recognisable imagery such as a boot for a cobbler or a diamond for a carver to promote products and services. And still, criers remained the go-to medium for relaying the sellers' messages to the public.

Also entering the industry was the vast sums of money that companies would splash out on campaigns. A little over one hundred American companies in 1893 spent 50,000 US dollars on advertising campaigns. That equates to over one million US dollars today, still a fraction of what today's companies spend at nearly 500 billion pounds globally.

In this era, though, the medium with the greatest prevalence was oral. Public criers would circulate messages in urban centres to passers-by advertising various products. There is evidence of written adverts and for more than just selling wares. In one such advert found at the ruins of Thebes 1,000 BC, a man was offering a reward for a runaway slave. But oral messages were the main method of delivery until the invention of the printing press in 1450.

But there was a time when an advert was a new occurrence and its effect on society amounted to no more than its core function: that is, to connect seller and buyer. We know that the written word began around 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, in the Sumerian civilisation that existed in modern-day southern Iraq. The make-up of this early scrawling consisted of grain inventories, from what historians and linguists can make of it.

Adverts in ancient times did contain an element of sophistication which essentially lured buyers, albeit less obviously. On the other side of the world, in ancient China, the language of adverts contained selling points and friendly imagery, such as in an advert to coax people into using a craftsman's services. This particular advertising medium is considered the oldest example of printed advertising.

That formula was soon copied by other publishers looking to increase their profits while expanding their circulation. British newspapers, which had been using newspaper advertising since the 18th century, used adverts to promote books and the newspapers themselves. The printing press had made their production much more affordable and advertising content expanded to include medicines, in what would prove to be the first instances of fake advertising.

Advertising has become a major force in our modern world. Through our airwaves, up in the skies, on walls, streets and along motorways, almost nowhere can we go and not be bombarded by adverts. It has become so prevalent that scientists and researchers have analysed its sociological effect extensively – how it influences buying habits, disenfranchises consumers and in some cases even repels them.

Such rudimentary content is also believed to be present in the first printed adverts, used by ancient Egyptians to communicate sales messages through the use of papyrus. In contrast with the ephemeral nature of today's advertising, they would also carve messages of commerce into stone or on steel plates, which would remain visible for a lifetime.

Naturally, we cannot know for sure, but one would guess that the power of persuasion was present in the spoken adverts of ancient times. You could suppose that the loudest, most colourful, most entertaining crier garnered the most business. Although we do not experience this form of advertisement often today, sellers in public markets in Europe and the Middle East still employ this method.

The specific message on the printing plate was 'We buy high quality steel rods and make fine quality needles, to be ready for use at home in no time', and the seller also placed a rabbit logo and the name of his shop in the centre. The plate, made of copper and dating back to the Song dynasty of 10th-century China, was used to print posters, the dimensions of which were nearly perfect squares roughly the size of a window frame.

It was not until the rise of newspapers did advertising make its next big leap. During this time, targeted slogans and catchphrases became popular. The first such instance of a paid newspaper advert appeared in the French newspaper La Presse in 1836 and what was so revolutionary about it was that the seller paid for its placement, allowing the newspaper to charge its readers less.

Known as 'quackery', such messages boasted cures for common ailments that went above and beyond what traditional remedies could provide. Naturally, an unsuspecting and undereducated public was particularly susceptible to such fabrications. Much as how 'quackery' would be disputed today, doctors went out of their way to publish in medical journals debunking the claims made by these adverts.

In the advert, a painting of a child blowing bubbles – a work of art literally entitled Bubbles, by English artist Sir John Everett Millais – was used as the background of a poster, with the product visible in the foreground. The visual immediately linked the product with high-class society and it is a tactic that is undeniably still very much used today.

Along with the staggering investment is the use of a broad range of tactics to maximise impact, such as focus groups, emotive imagery, storytelling and seemingly boundless product placement. So psychological is the effect that it has given rise to the belief that companies know everything about you. Nevertheless, with such creativity poured into the field, one can still appreciate its art form and its place in history.

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