Ad Campaigns: past & present

About 200 years of advertising in America, from the first ad newspaper ad placed 1704 in Boston News-letter of an estate for sale, over 100 later a voluntary council in 1942 to promote war efforts and the ever popular 'cola wars'. American advertisors have brought creativity, fun, and customers to evey product imaginable. 

Now you are reading this and thinking, uh-huh yeah we watch tv and look at ads, your point? 

I was sent an email with the subject, old ads you don't see anymore and for good reason. Looking at some of these ads from a range of decades (20's to 50's) I realized they speak volumes about our past. Take a look at the ad below:

Did the public think cigarettes were bad for them when this ad was run, cigarettes were the norm. A lot of unhealthy attitudes, ads with clear racist messages, sexist comments or products that were outright dangerous weren't given a second thought. If they did bother people it wasn't the majority. 

 

So in this enlightened age, 2016 I began to wonder how do we compare to the past and where are we still failing? Will the future generations be shocked by some of our current ads. I certainly hope so, because it means as a society we will evolve and be more than what we are now. 

I was happy to get those old ads, to remind me complacency sets in when we fail to question the status quo. 

Some information on advertising dates used from link below:

http://adage.com/article/special-report-the-advertising-century/ad-age-advertising-century-timeline/143661/

Two Tier Topiary DIY

My first two tier rose topiarys. A friend wanted them for her twins first birthday, she decided on an Alice in Wonderland theme (very cute) so these decor had to be special. Luckily she let me know what she was looking for so here's what I did and what I'll do different next time. 

Materials:

•Two 6" floracraft white styrofoam balls

•Two 4" floracraft white styrofoam balls

•Two terra cotta flower pots

•Two green flat styrofoam discs

•Moss by ashland deco moss

•Two semi straight thin sticks from a local park (I used Clorox towelettes to disinfect/ clean the sticks)

•Glue gun and glue sticks

•6 rose bunches (about ten flowers on each)

What I did:

•Pulled each flower head from the plastic stems and used the glue gun to stickand  secure into the ball. I tried to glue them in a continuous line around the middle of the ball. 

•After the 1st line of flowers I put them around the top half of the ball. Using the leaves on the bottom portion. 

•I filled in open spots with moss and buds or leaves.

•Put the green flat disc in the flower pot and put the stick through the middle. Make sure all is straight: disc, ball, stick before gluing. 

•Fit the other small stick into bottom of 4" styrofoam ball then in top of first ball, remember to glue!

•Add moss over the disc in the flower pot. 

•To make it more authentic I added pieces of thin sticks into different spots. 

•Since you're making two make sure they match! Doesn't hurt to get a second opinion.  

Here's the process in pictures:

What I'd do differently:

•Maybe try to find bulk rose heads on amazon, they seemed to be a better bargain. Or I may try the Dollar Tree store, again to get more flowers. 

•I'd definitely buy different moss. This moss was pretty but very difficult to glue. i burned my fingers too much trying to wedge it between flowers and glue. It's better for filling into the flower pot or a basin. Next time I'll go for a moss mat. They also sell moss balls but they are expensive and I'm uncertain how well the flowers would adhere to it. 

•Next time I will buy a pack of styrofoam balls instead of individual. I bought mine from Michaels and they didn't have the packs in the size I wanted. Better stores for me to buy them are Walmart, Joanns, or again Amazon. 

•Finally next time I'll have someone check to see if both heights match before the glue dries 😛

Thanks for reading and if you try these out let me know how it goes or if you have any tips!