The Amazing History of Ads You Probably Have Never Heard of Before

Commerce had begun since a very long time. The best attempt at tracing its history is to predict the period when human beings developed the desire to own things. So, there came all the stuff- trade by barter, the first market, business men, and full blown marketing. With development in Marketing, the need to sell more to more people also arose. Therefore, announce the birth of advertisement! Fast forward to many years after, but not too much, advertisement as we know it now actually became a real thing. 

The oldest written advertisement that was discovered was a papyrus predicted to have been created in around 3000 BC. The papyrus was a written announcement by a slave owner to find his slave who ran away. The papyrus also advertised the weaving business of the slave owner. It is most likely that all through this era up till 18th century, posters like this papyrus were the predominant (and maybe only) form of advertisement.

Advertisement found a major improvement beginning from the 18th century. In 1704, the first known newspaper advertisement was published. And, into the 19th century proper, Billboards were developed. Companies designed postcards to be handed out, and billboards to be displayed in public spaces. Other forms of this advertisement were printing advert labels on items such as milk bottles. 

BISHOP MILK. Bread and milk goes so well together! Pick up a loaf of Oaf bread and see! One ##currency only!

A new, huge development was made to advertisement in the 20th century when televisions and radios became quite popular. The direct- to- customer advertisement emerged. Whoever gave them the idea, companies realised that advertisement will grow much bigger through radio jingles and TV adverts. So, Radio advertising started in 1922. In 1941, TV advertisement officially began through an advert placed by Bulova watch company. This motivated other companies to begin advertisement on these media too thus, advertisement gained a stronger standing. 

ADVERTISEMENT WITH CHARACTERS

Around the late 1800s, companies started to introduce brand characters for their advertisements. This, as we know now, was a good idea as these characters appealed more to customers. Apart from cartoon characters, there were also human models and popular figures who served as brand ambassadors. This practice still stands today. Here are a few notable mascots and characters that were used in advertising products. See if you know some.

• The Great Root Bear for A&W Root Beer debuted 1974

• The white knight, and The Ajax pixies for Ajax detergent, and Ajax cleanser

• The Aunt Jemima character for Aunt Jemima around 1893-2020

• Burger King Kids Club Gang and others for Burger King in 1990-mid 2000s

• Chester Cheetah for Cheetos snacks since 1986

• Bumblebee for Chevrolet Camaro

• Cornelius the Rooster for Cornflakes cereal

• Tony the Tiger for Kellogs frosted flakes cereal since 1951

• Snap, Crackle and Pop for Kellogs Rice Krispies cereal since 1928

• Mr Clean for Mr Clean cleaning products since 1958

• The Man Your Man Could Smell Like for Old Spice Body wash since 2010

• The Quaker Oats man for Quaker oats since 1877 

• The Raid bugs for Raid insecticides since 1956

• Uncle Ben for Uncle Ben's Rice since 1946

• Mickey Mouse for The Walt Disney Company since 1928

ONE ADVERTISEMENT THAT MADE HISTORY

Then...In those days, days like until the 1800s, apples weren't very popular marketable commodities as they are today. It was well, just a fruit. But presently, apples are king fruits; they are so popular that they are even exported for sale in many countries. The huge change was made in 1866 when a simple advert changed the history of apples.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Bet you've heard that before. We were taught in schools that it is a saying; an aphorism. It means that eating healthy prevents one from getting sick. But, we're soon to find out that the origin isn't what we were taught. The publication is said to have originated in Wales as a rhyming sentence; 

"Eat an apple on going to bed and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread."

Haha! Bet you that there was no real research before this claim was made. It was just made to sell apples. But, whoever wrote that copy deserves a name in history. 

Do you think that that saying is a scam? Not really. Researchers now, who are determined to prevent their beliefs from being a lie, have been working to prove the saying true thus, we've been told that apples actually have reasonable health benefits. However, one should also note that the saying now means that eating healthy is just right, and not that one necessarily needs to eat apples before bed or that doctors wouldn't earn if one did that.

The aphorism evolved to; "An apple a day, no doctor to pay." and "An apple a day sends the doctor away." and finally, to the version we know of;

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

Advertisement, like many other things have experienced an interesting evolution. From Verbal advertisement to Papyrus, to YouTube. And...

There's one last development of advertisement...The Internet! From videos to copy and even to the annoying ads on YouTube and paid apps...the whole net is filled with all sorts of advertisement. 

Advertisement didn't start in a day, it began thousands of years ago and evolved into what we know it as today. And someday, the present day forms of advertisements will be a part of history too like its ancestors.