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/