Horace Burnett
Judith Ann Bodley
JOUR168-A
21 January 2015
The History of Advertising
The rate of change to advertising as to where it was 10 years ago to know is incredible. The technologies and platforms that have been introduced to us such as Facebook and Twitter has changed the way in which a business communicates with their public. To fully grasp the concept of advertising presently, one must look at its origin. Advertising has come from a very long way and it has managed to advance and evolve into the major communication tool it is today. Advertising is a form of marketing used to, persuade, or manipulate an audience to purchase a product or service, this is normally paid for by the business entity.
The most basic and still one of the most efficient forms of advertising which is word of mouth, this has been around ever since humans started providing each other’s with goods and services. As early as the Egyptians, there was evidence of the use of advertising. They used papyrus to record sales and important details, also for political, religious and commercial news to be announced in the city they would write it in bold and place it all over so that everyone would be informed. There were signs of this practice in the ruins of ancient Arabia and Pompeii. In countries such as India and Africa the use of wall advertising was and is now commonly used, hence the starting of ad’s being placed on walls all around the world, because they were easy to see and was colorful so to catch the public’s attention and we see that this practice is common here in Jamaica.
The earliest form of oral advertising originates in China in the form of Classic of Poetry in 11th to 7th centuries BC. According to the website mediaknowall.com “A copper printing plate dated back to the Song dynasty used to print posters in the form of a square sheet of paper with a rabbit logo with ‘Jinan Liu’s Fine Needle Shop’ and we buy high quality steel rods and make fine quality needles.” In Europe in the middle age time majority of people were unable to read, so they used large signs with symbols and pictures with what they wanted to depict to the people so it could be interpreted by them.
As we move along in the 18th century, we see where advertising advanced to the print form by using newspaper. Advertisements started to appear in weekly newspapers in England. These early prints were mainly to promote books and important writing, the improvements of the printing press newspapers became more affordable. However, after time false advertising started to be frequent causing major problems in the industry, but newspapers went on to strive. When the production of raw produce such as cane and coffee, buyers and sellers had a personal connection with their consumers. However after the advertising industrialized the connection was no longer personal, and competition was at its peak, there was a need for advertising more than ever. Places such as China and India started to get involved with mass production making goods cheaper and the demand higher. As economical struggles inflated there was a need for cheaper products, China and India used advertising to draw people to their products persuading them with their low prices.
Post-war influenced advertising quickly which took advantage of the media and started to use it to its full benefits using avenues such as the cinema. This was the beginning of the radio. The first radio ad appeared in 1922 and because of the seriousness of times, certain things were not allowed to be aired, however people enjoyed radio and quickly flocked to it. Next in the 1950s not only brought postwar influences but also brought new materials and goods. From these materials came the invention of the television. Television quickly became the hit, and in most homes it was a necessity, especially in America. And advertising quickly shifted to this form as they could use audio and visual in one. And this aided in the wealth of many companies.
The greatest sensation in advertising was the introduction to the internet. In the 1990’s the internet opened new opportunities for advertisers. Advertisers saw this medium as the new generation form. Millions of persons surf the internet, opening many windows for advertisers to place their products and services out there for individuals to see and drive desire into them.
As we ventured from the 7th B.C. to the 90’s we have seen where advertising has become revolutionized. We have seen how human nature, war and the economy has aided in the growth of advertising, and continue to be amazed at what advertising has accomplished. Now advertising is the main tool used for gaining sales for organizations globally and have helped them to reach goals that would have been seen as impossible to achieve.

References http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/google http://www.merriam-webster.com/. n.d. 2 September 2014. mediaknowall. "http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/Advertising/advertising.php?pageID=history." n.d. MediaKnowAll. 21 January 2015.
UNCP. "What is Advertising?" n.d. http://www2.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/Courses/ResourcesForCourses/Advertising/AdvertisingWhatIsIt.html. 21 January 2015.