1. AMERICAN ADVERTISING: A SURVEY
A mini-exhibit for the Smithsonian Institute’s ―American Enterprise‖
Jacob Gindi
December, 2011
Brown University

2. INTRODUCTION: HOW DOES ADVERTISING WORK?
Since the late 19th century, advertising has developed into one of the world’s
most versatile modes of communication. In its evolution from primitive textual
promotions in newspapers to visually stimulating print ads, to radio spots, to
television commercials, and finally to digital, mobile, and social media,
advertising has shaped and reflected many aspects of modern society.
In its early days, advertising allowed for the creation of the American mass
market by standardizing selling practices and enhancing consumerism. When
mass production became widespread across the United States, new
technologies led to standardized goods, bringing about uniform packaging and
branding. By the 1920’s, Americans became fully acquainted with consumerism,
and advertising campaigns began to make social commentaries, selling
appealing lifestyles rather than the goods themselves.

3. INTRODUCTION (CONT.)
Throughout the 1940’s and 50’s, advertisements grew more lavish and excessive until
many Americans became fed up with consumerism. In swept 1960’s advertising rebels
such as Bill Bernbach, who created ads that corresponded with anti-advertising
sentiments and the Counterculture movement of the 1960’s. Over the next few decades,
advertising began to appeal to and accept free thinkers and creative individuals. No
longer did ads call for a homogenous middle-class, but rather they stressed
individualistic strength and ―coolness.‖
Common throughout all advertising, from its inception to the present, is the desire to
create a desirable ―brand identity.‖ Everything from a brand’s name and logo to its
advertising campaigns contributes to the psychological and cultural symbolism and
connotations of a product. Advertising, throughout its evolution, has worked through the
synthesis and collaboration of advertisers and consumers to create, perceive, spread,
and sell branded products in the American capitalist market.

4. MALTA-VITA ADVERTISEMENT, 1900
This ad for Malta-Vita cereal shows an
early attempt at branding in the new
American mass market. Although still very
heavy on text like earlier non-graphic
ads, the large image and heading give this
advertisement visual gravity. The repetition
of the brand name in the text demonstrates
that consumers still needed to be
conditioned to respond to specific
brands, as they were gradually growing
accustomed to buying standardized goods
from large manufacturers rather than
individual storekeepers. For
manufacturers, this type of branding offered
a more controllable market, since
differentiation allowed the possibility of
consumer goodwill and protection against
competition.
Newspaper ad for cereal. ―The Perfect Food‖
Agency: N.W. Ayer & Son

5. MOTHER’S OATS ADVERTISEMENT, 1900
This ad for Mother’s Oats cereal was released in
the same year as the Malta-Vita ad by the same
agency, yet its format is completely different,
indicating experimentation and diversity among
ads from the early 20th century. The main focus
of this ad, unlike Malta-Vita, is not to excessively
describe the product or its quality, but rather to
offer premiums (in this case, free color prints of
the pictures from the ad). Many companies
believed that premiums were the most effective
way to gain consumer loyalty and to proliferate
their brand name, yet ―premium‖ products tended
to be targeted towards poorer consumers, while
higher quality products proudly claimed to refuse
the use of premiums.
Newspaper ad for cereal. ―Raises Nice Boys‖
Agency: N.W. Ayer & Son

6. NABISCO ADVERTISEMENT, 1902
This lithograph ad for NABISCO is completely
devoid of text, emphasizing its singular
focus—weatherproof packaging. Standardized
packaging was a new phenomenon at the turn
of the century, and most Americans bought
their edible goods out of barrels from a
storekeeper, only trusting foods that they could
taste beforehand. Advertisers felt they had to
promote ―product education‖ in order to gain
consumer trust and to stress the practicality
and convenience of packaging. This also
helped to build a brand image that would
become recognizable to the public, suggesting
connotations such as ―sturdy‖ and
―dependable.‖
Color card ad for NABISCO. Boy Camping
Agency: N.W. Ayer & Son

7. MILO CIGARETTES, 1918
Once the American mass market was firmly
established and customers were
successfully and willingly transformed into
consumers, marketers began emphasizing
appealing lifestyles rather than products.
They began to depict social tableaux, which
portrayed ―ideal‖ modern consumers that
readers were meant to envy and/or admire.
This Milo Cigarettes ad depicts a modern
woman typical of many advertisements of
the time. The woman’s extremely thin and
tall proportions, reminiscent of ―Art Deco
figurines,‖ were common symbols of
elegance and high social status.
Description: Inimitable Fragrance
N.W. Ayer & Son

8. KELLOGG’S – RICE KRISPIES, 1930
This Rice Krispies ad depicts a social
tableau of the modern mother-daughter
relationship. Many ads from the 1920’s-30’s
addressed the struggles of motherhood and
promised to make a mother’s job easier.
This ―parable of the captivated child‖
promised to enchant defiant children with a
healthy/beneficial product that a mother
could allow. Although the daughter in this ad
does not appear to be defiant, the mother-
child relationship is emphasized and
depicted in an extremely positive light,
connoting happiness, enchantment, and
peace.
Description: ―Mother, Listen! It talks out loud!‖
Agency: N.W. Ayer & Son

9. LUX SOAP, 1940
This ad for Lux Soap shows the degree of
extravagance and excess in advertising
practices of the 1940’s and 50’s. Since
advertisers saw themselves as ―apostles
of modernity,‖ they felt they had to spread
the ideal and/or perfect modern life. Rita
Hayworth is a prime example of both
perfection and modernity, as she was a
fashionable movie star, beloved for her
talent and looks. This ad fantastically
offers the consumer the possibility of
transforming herself into this beauty. This
exaggerated, unrealistic, and inaccurate
(―9 out of 10 screen stars use Lux Toilet
Soap‖) type of advertisement began to
create unrest and widespread annoyance
with consumer culture by the 1960’s.
Rita Hayworth for Lux Soap
Agency: Unknown

10. VOLKSWAGEN – THINK SMALL, 1959
DDB’s famous ―Think Small‖ campaign for
Volkswagen challenged advertising norms. As
opposed to most automobile ads, which
emphasized a car’s size and power, this
campaign humorously called out the VW’s
compact and unattractive design. This
minimalistic, straightforward, and honest ad
was able to identify the general distaste for
over-the-top advertising (e.g. Lux’s Rita
Hayworth ad) and appeal to those tired of the
American consumer culture. This campaign
anticipated a larger trend of advertisers to take
advantage of anti-consumerist sentiments and
to use the rebellious counterculture as positive
capitalist fuel.
Magazine reprint. ―ThinkSmall‖
Agency: Doyle Dane Bernbach

11. PEPSI, 1965
This BBDO ad for Pepsi continued in the
same vein as DDB’s Volkswagen campaign
by co-opting and taking advantage of the
Counterculture movement. With the ―Pepsi
Generation‖ ads, BBDO literally invented a
fictional youth movement in order to excite
consumers, and to allow them to become a
part of hip culture. Although the
Counterculture was centered around anti-
consumerism, Pepsi offered an ―easy way
out‖ for consumers—this campaign allowed
them to take part in a youth movement without
the inconvenience of refraining from
consumerism. By connecting the Pepsi brand
with words like ―lively‖ and ―energetic,‖ BBDO
hoped to excite consumers to join their
artificial yet appealing ―generation.‖
Pepsi – Come Alive
Agency: Batton, Barton, Durstine, and Osborne

12. NIKE ADVERTISEMENT, 1991
This Nike ad, like the earlier
Kellogg’s Rice Krispies
ad, depicts a mother-daughter
relationship. This
ad, however, champions
individualism, parental
inspiration, and even rebellion.
The campaign as a whole
advocated for women as athletes
and individuals, and borrowed
influence from the Creative
Revolution to capture rather than
control human emotions. This
ad, rather than speaking
materialistically, speaks directly
to one’s identity, creating a brand
image of
understanding, support, and
encouragement.
Nike: You do not have to be your mother…
Agency: Weiden-Kennedy

13. Works Cited:
Danesi, Marcel. Brands. New York: Routledge, 2006.
Dávila, Arlene. Latinos, Inc.: the marketing and making of a people. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press, 2001.
Frank, Thomas. The conquest of cool: business culture, counterculture, and the
rise of hip consumerism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997.
Marchand, Roland. Advertising the American dream: making way for modernity,
1920-1940. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.
Schudson, Michael. Advertising, the uneasy persuasion: its dubious impact on
American society. New York: Basic Books, 1984.
Strasser, Susan. Satisfaction guaranteed: the making of the American mass
market. New York: Pantheon Books, 1989.