Early Advertising History

Advertising began a lot earlier than one may assume. There are examples of advertisements that date back to the Ancient Greeks. The very first advertising came in the form of street cries, or vocal advertisements. Although vocal ads were most likely the first, print ads also developed very early. Signs were first posted in Rome advertising events such as a gladiator match or another public affair.

As history moves forward to the Middle Ages, so did the advertising. One interesting fact about ads in during this period is that most of them were pictures without and words. Most of the population was illiterate so pictures were the only way to communicate an advertisement. For the most part, signs were put up for individual merchants.

After the first newspaper was started in England, advertisements began to appear in print. The first is recorded to be an ad for the return of a stolen horse. Eventually, people were opening shops and charging for an ad to be posted. Newspaper ads became much more popular after the London Gazette decided to start running advertisements.

It wasn’t until 1661 that brand names began to appear. In 1665, ads for medicines to prevent and cure the plague were placed in newspapers. Names such as “Anti-Pestilential Pills” and “Incomparable Drink Against the Plague” were used.

A topic already?

Today is the second day of College Writing II and we were asked to start thinking about a topic for a research paper, that will essentially be worked on thoughout the entire semester. I figured that it would probably be in my best interest take Professor Hanes' advice and choose a topic that is atleast somewhat related to my major. Advertising has interested me since high school, but that interest has grown in the last year, especially after last semester. I really enjoyed my Principles of Advertising class and now I am excited to continue in my major here at Kent State. As far as a topic goes, I'm still thinking about it. A topic involving advertising is a given but I need to come up with a specific idea.