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Mandik 1
Julia Mandik
Professor Charles McNally
History 203-701
25 May 2010
How America Changed Advertising and Advertising Changed America
Advertising as it is known today has evolved greatly over the past century. Until the
1890’s, advertising agencies were rare and performed a service that was not in large demand.
Although word of mouth promotion has always existed, marketing strategies began to change as
new technologies, such as radio and television, were invented, and these advertisements, in turn,
helped to shape the path of many key events in American history, including the country’s
involvement in world wars, roles of women, and presidential elections.
In the 1890’s, there was an increased production in all kinds of goods, and with that came
greater competition between different manufacturing companies. Manufacturers were pressed
with the issue of overproduction, and company leaders saw advertising as a means to stimulate
public demand for their products. This rise in industry is what led to the creation of modern
advertising, and it was American companies who stepped up to the challenge (Turner 169).
At the turn of the century, the first big-name advertiser emerged on the scene, Albert
Davis Lasker, who has since been proclaimed the “father of modern advertising” (Turner 172).
He was able to rise in distinction through his exciting and provocative layouts and illustrations,
and he eventually became the leader at the agency Lord and Thomas, making millions of dollars
in advertising (172). It was people like Lasker who determined what advertising was supposed to
mean, and how one could use associations to allow a reader to recall a memory from his own
experience upon viewing the message of the ads. These ad executives understood the importance
of using common desires, such as health, wealth, smart clothing, and privilege, to attract
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attention and appeal to the common man about what he can achieve through the use of certain
products or services (174).
Throughout the first decade of the century, advertising became connected with the
automobile race as well. Once Henry Ford’s assembly process was able to mass-produce 10,000
cars annually, he understood the importance of his name becoming a household term. One story
that was spread about Ford at the time was that an elderly woman had shipped tin cans to the
Ford Company. She soon received a Ford car and a letter explaining that the leftover cans would
be credited to her. Whether this anecdote is true or not, Ford often encouraged the use of silly
stories and jokes to promote his brand image. Ford was one of the first manufacturers who was
willing to laugh at himself, something that became common, especially in the automobile
industry, in later decades (Turner 181).
At the start of World War I, America faced some difficult decisions about its entry and
involvement in the war. The American people had elected Woodrow Wilson on his campaign
promise to keep them out of the war, and now it seemed that United States involvement was
inevitable (Mock and Larson 3). Not all Americans agreed with the declaration of war, and in
response the President established the Committee on Public Information, which was literally an
advertising agency intended to sway the public opinion in favor of the war effort. George Creel
was appointed as the head of the Committee (4). Creel had a background in journalism, as well
as an extensive network of acquaintances in politics, literature, and the arts, and it was his wife’s
friendship with President Wilson’s daughter that helped him gain close ties with the President in
order to earn the position as head of the CPI (57).
The goal of the CPI was to inform the American people about what was occurring around
the world, and to convince each person to do his part in the war effort. The committee took
several steps to achieve this, and many of its resources were spent on encouraging the sale of war
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bonds, as well as trying to demoralize and instill hated of the enemy. The CPI published a daily
newspaper, the Official Bulletin, as a way to publicly release the text of orders, proclamations,
and reports. The bulletin was distributed to government agencies, such as military camps and
post offices, as well as to private subscribers. The bulletins were also released to newspapers in
order for the articles to be published in a wider circulation. Through the Official Bulletin, the CPI
was able to give the people a record of the actions performed by the United States in the War
(Mock and Larson 93).
While the Official Bulletin took care of the written word, the CPI established an
advertising division, led by many of the most important advertising associations in the country,
in order to promote patriotism and encourage certain actions from the public. This division took
care of gaining advertising space for use by the CPI. Most of the time, the space was bought by
individual advertisers and then donated to the CPI for government use (Mock and Larson 96).
Artists and illustrators were also brought into the CPI to help promote war activities. Without the
use of radio or broadcasting, paintings and cartoons were a powerful way to symbolize wartime
activities and promote the sale of war bonds. The Division of Pictorial Publicity was responsible
for 700 poster designs, 310 advertising illustrations, and 287 cartoons. It was during this time
that James Montgomery Flagg introduced the most famous image of the Uncle Sam character on
a recruitment poster (see Figure 1). This CPI program was also responsible for the introduction
of buttons, which inspired an era of “outdoor advertising worn on the person” (105). For the
duration of the war, the United States was able to use advertising and the Committee for Public
Information to promote its efforts and retain the commitment of the American people to its
cause.
As soon as the war ended and the 1920’s began, resources could again be devoted to
manufacturing new and fantastic, although highly expensive goods, such as refrigerators,
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washing machines, and radios. People had to see advertisements for these products and not just
want them, but want to upgrade to new ones every year also (Turner 214). American people
began to live more lavishly, and this was the time when it became common to feel ashamed
about not being able to purchase exciting new products. The 1920’s were an decade of
prosperity, where people felt the need to buy not just one car, but two (218). The advertisers
encouraged them to support American companies and provide employment for American
workers. Even greeting card makers, candy salesmen, and florists experienced a boom in
business by promoting occasions besides Christmas and birthdays. Mother’s Day, in particular,
was a holiday that was created by these companies and promoted through advertising campaigns
until it became a nationwide celebration (219).
With the Stock Market Crash in 1929, advertisers suffered right away. Manufacturers
accepted that they had to cut back on their advertising spending, which meant less business for
themselves as well as the advertisers. Ad executives tried to curb this decrease in revenue by
encouraging advertising as a way to end the economic decline, but to no avail. Because of this,
ad agencies were willing to take on more vulgar campaigns, in particular for personal hygiene
products, such as razors, deodorant, and mouthwash (Turner 234). Many companies turned to
cruder humor than had been seen before, using ideas like seduction or marital infidelity. For
example, until the 1930’s, perfume had been sold as something intended for virtuous women to
imply innocence. However, it was now being suggested as a trap for men, to be used to lure
unsuspecting gentlemen into women’s grasps (238). Because Americans no longer had the funds
to spend lavishly, admen needed to be more creative than ever, and often tried to use shock value
in ads in order to grab readers’ attention.
In 1939, after World War II had started but before the United States was involved, most
of the companies who were buying ad space were those who were manufacturing goods as part
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of the war effort, such as industrial steel manufacturers who produced materials for soldiers.
Because the United States was building up its defense industries, the majority of these ads were
not meant to sell products, but rather to explain the contributions of certain manufacturers to
defense production (Jones 4). Some ads incorporated war themes into them, and helped to boost
home front morale by helping explain why certain products or materials were scarce. Others used
sentimentality to encourage sales of certain products. One example of this type of advertisement
(although it was published after the United States entered the war) is an ad for Kodak film which
featured a photograph of a soldier at home for Christmas, with the caption “Snapshots never
meant so much as now” (see Figure 2). Kodak used this imagery to induce a feeling of nostalgia
and stress the importance of having family photographs during war-time, which is what made
this ad stand out (8).
It was after the bombing of Pearl Harbor that the United States government and
advertisers took a more proactive effort to affect the American people through print ads. One of
the most important tasks was to promote a national sense of unity, which the December 1941
attack had already helped to encourage (Jones 5). After Pearl Harbor, Americans were already
sold on patriotism and American values, and admen created advertisements that utilized these
ideals as “a reminder to the home front of why we were at war, why we had to win, and what
we’d stand to lose if we lost the war” (Jones 38). There were some ads intended entirely to
explain to Americans the reasons for participating in the war, rather than asking them to take
action or get involved individually (39). Overall, advertising techniques played an important role
in the involvement of the United States in World War II. Advertisements that were able to
manipulate emotions helped to boost public morale on the home front and overseas, and
encouraged individual participation by promoting war bonds and victory gardens. By explaining
the greater purpose of saving money and the sacrifice that came with rationing, the American
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people felt united in a cause and supported the government’s war-time activities. After the
contributions of admen to the government in both World War I and World War II, use of
advertising for promoting government activities became an accepted practice that continues
today.
Throughout the first half the century, presidential campaigns had evolved along with the
new technology and marketing strategies. Until the 1890’s, presidential campaigning had
consisted of candidates touring the country and promoting themselves by making appearances
and having other political supporters do the same to garner votes by word of mouth (Jamieson 3).
Traditionally, as soon as a candidate was nominated by his party, he would write a letter of
acceptance that explained his platform and campaign promises. The letter would be published in
newspapers and distributed, and the candidate would then go about his business until being
informed that he had been elected (16).
The first person to challenge this traditional election practice was William Jennings
Bryan in 1896. Bryan announced his acceptance of the candidacy in a speech in Madison Square
Garden. It was with this opening address that Bryan became known as a pioneer of the modern
campaign, by making speeches nationwide and promoting himself with passion (Jamieson 17). It
was Bryan’s obvious enthusiasm that encouraged William McKinley to pursue votes for himself,
and later go on to win, marking the first time that two candidates had shown real opposition to
each other and actually competed for votes (18).
In the elections that followed McKinley’s, political advertising transformed into
something that had never been seen before, aided by the development of new technologies,
particularly radio and television. Before it became a valuable marketing tool, the radio had its
first political use broadcasting a speech by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 (Jamieson 24).
Radio created a national audience, meaning that listeners in the city and on farms heard the same
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message. Because of this, presidential candidates could no longer make conflicting promises to
people of different areas depending on what those people wanted to hear as they had done in the
past. They could, however, reach a far greater number of listeners in general than they could
have if they had traveled around the country, an advantage that far surpassed the issue of empty
campaign promises. A candidate simply had to alter his message to apply to all listeners across
the country (Jamieson 20).
Another result of the use of radio was the sudden importance of adjusting speech delivery
to match the medium. Candidates who did not adjust their speaking voices to suit the intimate
listening experience created by radio would have their popularity decrease (Jamieson 20). After
being elected, by using radio to bring the president’s words into American homes, he became
human and his words became living things, not just text on paper that was edited several times
over before presented to the general public. One of the greatest examples of this is Franklin
Roosevelt and his “fireside chats,” which at one time reached over 60 million listeners, allowing
him to connect with a troubled country during the Great Depression (21). The radio provided
new opportunities for candidates as well as all levels of elected officials, and in turn affected the
way the people viewed their leaders and government.
The advent of television also spawned a new series of advantages and disadvantages for
presidential candidates, and in 1948, television became an important factor in political events.
That election became the first in which presidential candidates paid for air time to promote their
campaigns (Jamieson 34). This led to further changes to the campaign process, which came in
the form of media advisors, who were responsible for producing the candidate’s advertising and
campaign strategies. For the first time, presidential candidates were regularly hiring advertising
agencies to produce materials for them (35). Over time, the position of media consultant evolved
and the advisor grew more powerful in his position to the point where he played a major part in
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deciding the advertising and communication strategies. Eventually, political media consulting
became a profession on its own, with new advertising firms opening up to specialize in campaign
services (36).
In 1952, television was being used full-force by both Democrats and Republicans in the
election campaigns of Adlai Stevenson and Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower’s campaign spent
more money purchasing time for television spots and commercials featuring him while
Stevenson’s strategy involved buying airtime to deliver speeches. Because Eisenhower’s
advisors knew that public speaking was one of Stevenson’s strengths, they decided that he
should turn down the opportunity to debate him on television (Jamieson 43). Television was not
without its disadvantages for Stevenson. For one thing, television had time constraints that
Stevenson had trouble limiting himself to, and he often ran over his allotted time frames. He also
tended to use university-level language, unlike Eisenhower, which lost him appeal with the less-
educated voters in society (59). Because he generally disliked recording his lines for his
television spots, his line delivery often sounded unnatural (63). Stevenson was slow to embrace
the participation of the Madison Avenue agencies in his campaign, and he was reluctant to
change himself to fit the image desired by his campaign advisors (64). In the end, it is possible
that his media consultants could have saved his campaign and he could have won the election, if
he had only been more willing to listen to the admen the Democratic Party had hired.
From these beginnings, campaign strategies have evolved over time, to the point where
the advertising consultants have become one of the most important parts of any campaign. An
important lesson that future candidates learned from the 1952 election is that public image can
make or break a campaign. These experiments and discoveries have led to the television
commercials, televised debates, and other marketing strategies that exist today.
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Many of these early advertising techniques have endured until today. Henry Ford’s early
Model T ads and stories inspired later companies to poke fun at themselves. As new products
and competing companies materialized, creating newer, more eye-catching advertisements
became very important. One of the most unique automobile advertising campaigns is
Volkswagen, a foreign company that hired an American ad agency to create its broadcast and
print ads in the United States. The ad agency, Doyle Dane Bernbach, saw that something
completely unique, rather than traditional car advertisements, had to be produced in order to
promote the car that, in the 1960’s, had not yet become a mainstream brand (Levenson 27). What
emerged from these creative minds was something completely original: funny, thoughtful, and
eye-catching, even in black and white, which led to a long line of clever Volkswagen
advertisements (see Figure 3).
Advertisements also reflected the changing roles of women in society. During times of
war, when more women were needed to take over factory jobs, posters began to circulate
encouraging women to join the workforce, particularly Westinghouse’s “We Can Do It!” poster
(see Figure 4), and Norman Rockwell’s “Rosie the Riveter” cover for the Saturday Evening Post
(see Figure 5), both produced during World War II. These images showed powerful women who
were taking charge and doing their part to help their country. Besides inspiring women to take
action, archetypal symbols were used to sell products whose intended consumers were mainly
women (Randazzo 78). Women who desired to be seen as good mothers would purchase items
from the General Mills brand that contained images of Betty Crocker, who was seen as an ideal
symbol of motherhood. Feminists in the 1970’s often complained that Betty Crocker perpetuated
a stereotype of women as caregivers and housewives, an idea that prevented them from realizing
their true potential (125). However, the image of Betty Crocker, first introduced in 1921, has
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survived several makeovers in order to modernize her and make her appeal to new generations of
women (126).
Throughout the century, advertising executives have played important roles in many
historical events, and the many decades’ worth of advertisements reflect how much society has
grown and changed. Admen saw where the opportunities were and pursued them. They saw how
the country was changing, and met with challenges in unique ways. They took on new
responsibilities during times of depression and war, and were able to boost the morale of an
entire country. At times they were charged with presenting government officials and activities to
people and winning public support, which they did. Without the development and evolution of
different advertising techniques, and without the creative minds behind them, there is no telling
how history would be different.
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Figure 1
One of James Montgomery Flagg’s original
Uncle Sam posters
Figure 2
Kodak film advertisement, 1941
Figure 3
Early Volkswagen ad, 1960
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Figure 4
“We Can Do It!” by J. Howard Miller
Used as a work incentive poster in a
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing
Company factory.
Figure 5
Rosie the Riveter, original artwork by Norman
Rockwell, created for a cover of the Saturday
Evening Post
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Works Cited
Flagg, James Montgomery, 1877-1960.. I want you for U.S. Army : nearest recruiting station..
Garden City, N.Y.. UNT Digital Library.
http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc451/. Accessed May 25, 2010.
Jamieson, Kathleen Hall. Packaging the Presidency: a History and Criticism of Presidential
Campaign Advertising. New York: Oxford UP, 1984. Print.
Jones, John Bush. All-out for Victory!: Magazine Advertising and the World War II Home Front.
Waltham, Mass.: Brandeis UP, 2009. Print.
Kodak Advertisement. 1941. Reprint. All-out for Victory!: Magazine Advertising and the World War
II Home Front. By John Bush Jones. Waltham, Mass.: Brandeis UP, 2009. 9. Print.
Levenson, Bob. Bill Bernbach's Book: a History of the Advertising That Changed the History of
Advertising. New York: Villard, 1987. Print.
Miller, Howard J. "We Can Do It". Poster. 1942. National Museum of American History,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. Web. 25 May 2010.
Mock, James Robert., and Cedric Larson. Words That Won the War; the Story of the Committee on
Public Information, 1917-1919,. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1939. Print.
Randazzo, Sal. Mythmaking on Madison Avenue: How Advertisers Apply the Power of Myth &
Symbolism to Create Leadership Brands. Chicago, Ill.: Probus Publishing Company, 1993.
Print.
Rockwell, Norman. “Rosie the Riveter”. 1943. Painting. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
Bentonville, AR. Web. 25 May 2010.
Turner, E. S. The Shocking History of Advertising! New York: Dutton, 1953. Print.
Volkswagen "Lemon" Advertisement. 1960. Reprint. Bill Bernbach's Book: A History of the
Advertising That Changed the History of Advertising. By Bob Levenson. New York: Villard,
1987. 29. Print.