1. Becoming a Household Name
A Look at the History of Advertising
through Consumerist Campaigns

2. Ad Page from Harper’s Weekly
Dated: December 10, 1887
Taken from from Harper’s Weekly, this
page acts as a snapshot of the earliest
types of print advertising. With the rise of
industrialization, urbanization, and new
forms of communication, advertising
became a useful means for manufacturers
to promote goods and services to larger
audiences. Much like our modern
classifieds, early advertisements focused
on promoting specific goods; on the
left, we see ads for
soap, furs, pianos, cocoa, and linen collars.
Brand names, such as Steinway and Pears
helped distinguished products.
However, between 1880 and
1920, advertising evolved as producers
devised competitive strategies for
accessing their customers – soon the
appearance and purpose of advertising
changed drastically.
Susan Strasser, Satisfaction Guaranteed, 45

3. Ivory Soap Iceberg Ad (by Proctor & Gamble)
Dated: 1908
One of Proctor & Gamble’s founding
products, Ivory Soap one of America’s first
products to actively build a brand identity
through advertising. Ivory Soap relied on a
powerful connotation of its name “ivory” and
well as these advertisements that
demonstrated a dramatic product distinction
– that Ivory Soap floats. Here, the advertisers
have created a problem in order to promote
their product as the solution. In a
sense, advertisers constructed a desire for
Ivory Soap by exaggerating inconveniences
that could readily be solved. This strategy
permeated the consumer’s conscience and
could influence both perceptions of day-to-
day “troubles” and buying decisions. This
advertisement reveals the sly schematics of
advertising where selling products was the
utmost priority.
Susan Strasser, Satisfaction Guaranteed, 95
Michael Schudson, Uneasy Persuasion, 130-132

4. Nabisco, Buy Biscuit Ad
Dated: 1912
The early 1900’s marked the origin of the era
of the brand name. As the marketplace grew
increasingly cluttered with
alternatives, competition for consumers
favored those companies that could
distinguish themselves with truth and
reliability in advertising. National
brands, such as the National Biscuit
Company, could leverage their reputations to
attract customers. Here, Nabisco speaks with
self-awareness and capitalizes on the
reader’s familiarity with their products in
saying “Always look for that name.” The
Nabisco name served as the foundation is
cumulative publicity. This ad, through the
mere repetition of the brand name and visual
promotion of Nabisco’s product diversity, acts
as a self-deductive means to guaranteeing
brand equity.
Roland Marchand, Advertising The American Dream
Susan Strasser, Satisfaction Guaranteed, 35, 144
Michael Schudson, Uneasy Persuasion, 117

5. Bull Durham Advertisement
Lively Smoke for Lively Times
Dated: 1918
The cigarette makes the man – or so this
advertisement suggests. Here, the Bull
Durham cigarette is positioned as the
vehicle for social esteem. Dangling loosely
from the gentleman’s fingers, the cigarette
is the unassuming protagonist of this
advertisement. The product, named “bull”
represents the cigarette’s inherent
masculinity and influence. The social
context of this image exhibits the
democracy of goods, where the simple
purchase of a cigarette promises all
depicted in the ad: social
advancement, leisure, music, female
company. This advertisement assigns the
Bull Durham brand power of social agency
and transcribed luxury. The cigarette
outstrips its physical capabilities and
instead, the consumer is guaranteed
idealism, popularity, and enjoyment.
Roland Marchand, Advertising the American Dream, 217
Marcel Danesi, Brands, 16-17, 100

6. Coca-Cola Advertisement
Dated: 1931
In the 1930’s, Coca-Cola was as well known
as Santa Claus. In this advertisement, Coca-
Cola presents an idealistic image of jolly
Saint Nick as the Coca-Cola brand
ambassador. He is the “savvy neighbor”
offering a friendly, honest endorsement of
Coca-Cola and communicating direct advice
to the reader. Rather than fabricating its
own mascot as had other contemporary
brands such as Quaker Oats, Coca-Cola
exploits cultural associations with Santa to
empower its brand – not to mention
Santa’s hearty cheering gesture and
supposed verbatim blessing. Advertising
hosted a new semantic space that
manipulated language for the benefit of
the producer to create brand personalities
and communicate directly with the
consumer.
Susan Strasser, Satisfaction Guaranteed, 119, 129
Bruce Barton, “The Man Nobody Knows”
Thomas Frank, Conquest of Cool, 171 (Cola Wars)

7. Plymouth Christmas Advertisement
Dated: 1947
Plymouth presents itself as the hallmark
of the American lifestyle. This
campaign, intentionally tinted green and
red, depicts a welcoming holiday scene.
The image is a social tableau, meant to
appeal to the relevant American family
audiences. The scene is typical – but
perhaps too typical. Such a socialist realist
canvas portrays an eerily perfect snapshot
with an aproned grandma, Christmas
tree, and perfectly symmetrical bell
adornment. Plymouth positions itself as
the guest of honor in this scene. This
caption emphasizes Plymouth as the
culmination of the American Dream, as
well, only heightening this visual
romanticism.
Roland Marchand, Advertising The American Dream, 14, 166, 239-240, 266
Michael Schudson, The Uneasy Persuasion, 217

8. Volkswagon, Think Small
Dated: 1959
Printed in 1959, this campaign captures
the sweeping shift in advertising between
the 1950’s and 1960’s. The new decade
heralded in an age of hip
consumerism, where advertisers
appealed to readers’ youthfulness, sense
of cool, and creativity. Compared to ads
from previous decade, Volkswagon’s
blank minimalist canvas is shockingly
fresh. This advertisement places the
product within culture. The VW
bug, isolated and off-centered, matches
consumers as they came to value
individualism and independence.
Volkswagon’s slogan, “Think Small” uses
active language and is ironically self-
intuitive and reiterates this new focus on
creativity and hipness.
Thomas Frank, The Conquest of Cool, 26, 105
Marcel Danesi, Brands, 75-77

9. Pepsi Generation Advertisement
Dated: 1965
Perhaps one of the most famous
campaigns in the history of
advertising, Pepsi’s Generation ads caught
the nation at a time of youth inspiration.
This advertisement showcases the
cultural sensitivity of advertising in the
1960’s, where producers aimed to attract
the youthful generation through brand
personality, especially in competition with
other “less hip” colas. The swinging blond
hair, close-up smile, yellow font, and
repetition of exclamation points – these
collaboratively constructed Pepsi’s
enduring brand energy. Here, we can see
that the strategic capitalist realist
approach by Pepsi to position its ad as a
visual salesperson. Pepsi appeals to on
the consumer’s identity, forging contact
by direct verbal acknowledgement.
Marcel Danesi, Brands,
Thomas Frank, Conquest of Cool, 120-121, 137, 170-175
Michael Schudson, Uneasy Persuasion, 209, 50

10. Virginia Slims Cigarettes
Dated: 1971
Virginia Slims’ branding epitomizes the
trend of targeted marketing. Virginia Slims
resonates with women in its brand
name, as well as in its progressive brand
identity. The model’s confident posture and
fashionable outfit create an image of the
trendy, professional 1970’s woman – and
she is African-American, reflective of the
progressive culture. This ad also appeals to
latent female desires and self-conscious
emotions. Virginia Slims’ timeworn
slogan, “You’ve come a long way, baby”
implies confidence and personal
achievement for women, especially
resonant for African Americans striving for
civil rights. Meanwhile, the word “slims”
invokes women’s subconscious desires to
be physically fit, much like the model in the
advertisement.
Marcel Danesi, Brands, 10, 76, 100
Michael Schudson, Uneasy Persuasion, 63
Thomas Frank, Conquest of Cool, 134, 152
Roland Matchand, Advertising the American Dream, 66

11. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of
this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ or send
a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite
900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.