Advertising and promotion is one of the most important aspects of business. It allows customers to become familiar and aware of the different products in the market place. In the 1950’s, ads were commonly geared towards acceptable gender roles of the era, where men typically dominated the blue-collar work force and the more conservative, house-appropriate women maintained the house. In today’s business and advertising world, it’s not uncommon to see ads expressing sex and sports as the selling point of their product. While some of the same tactics and strategies are still used today, advertising has changed dramatically over the years to keep up with the radical swing of public opinion. As public opinion has shifted from stereotypical to more liberating roles, like in the case for women, it has shifted from blue-collar to fashionable roles for men, and from celebrity to sports star idols, so did advertising.
More specifically, let’s examine some ads for televisions and how they have changed over time. In the 1950’s televisions were advertised based on their cutting edge innovations and the spectacular pictures they provided, which even today we can see is a huge selling factor amongst major competitors in the television industry. However, ads today use the appeal of everything from the sexiness of the most recognized celebrities and athletes, all the way to the other end of the extreme, in advertising they manufacture the most eco-friendly and environmentally safe television on the market. While public opinion has experienced a night and day transformation, the one aspect that has remained the same over time, is that it’s still all about who can provide the clearest picture.
Advertisements from 1950’s used images that portrayed women as being very conservative and proper. Women were always dressed appropriately with some type of dress or long skirt, their hair done without a strand out of place, and their make up done to perfection. Now we see ads using women in a completely different way. In today’s ads they are the sexiest, most scantly clad women that society will permit. The ads from the 1950’s also tended to use more earthly tones because they more appropriate for the time era. Colors such as electric blue and florescent greens and yellows, which we see today in ads as a symbol of extreme clarity and contrast, were not even existent back in the 1950’s because they were have been far too extreme and radical.
While many things have changed in advertising, such as the use of women in regards to society, they still use many of the same techniques and strategies that they did more than 50 years ago. In both ads we can clearly see the companies trying to create a specific image with their television. They want you to perceive their television as the most exquisite, dynamic looking television on the market, because they offer the best technologies and latest innovations around. Another common theme in television ads that was prevalent in the 50’s, and even today, was the use of sports. They want consumers to believe that if they watch the big game on their television, they’ll not only get the best, clearest, and brightest picture available, but their television set can actually bring the game to life, right their in their home, so they don’t miss a second of the action!
Examine at the television ads below and see how they’ve changed over the years. From the conservative 1940’s and 1950’s, to the sexy and provocative ads of today, see how advertising has changed through the years.
1947
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24320368@N06/2467186220/
1953
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24320368@N06/2466358817/in/photostream/
2004
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24320368@N06/2467186334/
2006
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24320368@N06/2466358929/
2007
