Advertisements placed in magazines, newspapers before the 1920s were made completely different to how ads are placed these days. I noticed that ads in the early 1900s were made very simple with not as much information on the product and sometimes pictures that look as if they have nothing in common with the product advertised. By reviewing many ads from the 1900-1920s, The pictures placed in the ads seem to display either one or more of the following: various colors, a beautiful scene, or displaying the wonderful results of what a person may look like if he/she were to purchase the product advertised. When looking through, the Kodak archives, I noticed that the Kodak company took shots of people in different, special, one time moments, either alone or with others cherishing a moment. In the ad, the picture would also show a camera that someone in the picture is holding basically, letting the reader assume that taking a picture makes the memory last longer to cherish in the future. But these days, many of those ads would be very misleading for instance, on one of the ads that Kodak is advertising their Brownie camera for only $2.00. As soon as I saw the word "brownie" I thought of that wonderful, delicious chocolate treat and was forced to click on the link only to find a picture of three boys fishing, and one of them is holding a BROWNIE kodak camera. One thing I question is "Did people in the 1920s fall for the same misleading ad as I did?" or "Did Brownies even exist in the 1920s? if so then I would assume that maybe a small percentage did misinterpret this ad for the chocolate delicacy. Obviously, once the picture is displayed and one looks at the camera and sees the words "Bring along a Brownie" he/she then will realize this ad is about a camera.
What looks appealing to me about the ad posted above, is how they portray the environment the kids are in and beautiful background. It looks like it's just the three kids near the lake hanging out and one of the kids has caught some fish. So, to cherish the memory, one of the other kids is about to take a picture so either they could use the picture to show off to friends, or maybe for a competition between the friends. Maybe the picture was taken for proof that the kid really did catch more than 2 fish. Maybe the picture is taken for the community newspaper. Under the picture, it says that making the pictures is fun and showing them to friends and family is fun too, so I think that Kodak is taking the "taking pictures with a Kodak is fun, and showing them to other is too, so go buy one asap" approach. When viewing the picture, one can obviously assume the picture is getting taken for memory purposes. I bet people back in the 1900s as well as today always cherish special moments in their lives, meaningful times, unique situations and knowing that a camera can snap that exact moment and save a photographic image of that moment in time for later is priceless. Really analyzing the ad above, it makes the viewer realize that without a camera after the sun goes down and its time to head home, that memory is lost forever. Instead Kodak pushes the product by talking about how fun it would be to show everyone that you caught some fish or were involved in some other memorable experience.
What's different about the ad above that definitely caught my attention was first off, the words "Off-Color" Teeth. I knew the ad was not about some product that would aid the customers' teeth to turn another color than white. So I first thought " oh maybe, this is a product that will CURE off-color teeth and make them that sparkling white that we all desire. To support the ad, there is a picture of a woman with a beautiful smile displaying her clean whiter than white teeth. What also looked appealing when looking at this ad, was the coupon at the bottom of the ad. The word Free is the first word on the left of the coupon and we all know that EVERYONE loves things that are free. So, I believe back in 1925 when this ad was advertised, it must have drawn many viewers because I believe that coupons these days attract the buyer much more. Its just like comparing to stores in the shopping malls where stores attract much more customers when signs that read " SALE! SALE!" are displayed in the front windows of the shop. I believe that people in the 1900s as well as today care about their appearance and most importantly image. This ad would attract many people because truthfully, what person wouldn't love glistening white teeth? Especially now, since many women and men smoke cigarettes, sparkling white teeth would not be too common around these people without whitening products out now, and toothpaste that has many ingredients to clean up the teeth and whiten it again. By the look of the ad, Pepsodents' goal was to attract both male and female and not just females because of the picture posted on the bottom of the ad of the man smiling with his bleach white teeth. Using the words "healthy," "lustrous," and "beauty" all attract the customer because those words make a person feel good and adding a coupon would surely attract more readers.
This ad is for Herbal Essence Moisturizing Lotion. This ad is made for the present time because these days in our world, tv, movies, advertisements are related to either sex, drugs, or violence. In this Herbal Essence ad, The view of a woman's back looks very sexual and would absolutely attract most men. For example, a man would probably pause at this ad because the page is made up of 95% nudity with the rest of the 5% being the white background, exposing parts of the woman's back side. On the woman's back it reads "Is your skin ready for some serious pleasure?" One can take that phrase sexually, but viewing the bottle of Lotion on the bottom of the ad it becomes obvious that this lotion must have some magic formula to please the skin to a smooth and silky finish. The ad also throws a hint that the lotion leaves the skin very smooth, and rich by the way the woman's right hand is gently touching the back of her neck. Again, this ad is somewhat similar to the pepsodent ad posted above because it is showing a finished product with wonderful results, and the ads both support beauty and mainly protection. Pepsodent prevents off-color teeth while Herbal Essence Moisturizing Lotion prevents dry skin while leaving the skin soft and moisturized.
This ad is a from a recent ad made by Polaroid. Its a commercial
and if you click on the link above it will show the commercial. This
ad is similar to the Kodak ad made in the 1920s. In the 21st century
companies are using new technology, and more unique characters to look
more appealing to the eye. The commercial shows a group of two men
driving on a road when they notice a UFO spaceship and decide to stop and
take pictures of it. They are snapping away, when they see a flash
from the corner of their eyes where a little girl is standing next to a
green alien posing while an old man is about to take their picture with
a polaroid. Whats funny is that the alien smiles right before the
picture is taken. I think this is similar to the ad above because
this is a moment that will probably never happen again and to have the
ability to take a picture of the UFO, alien for memory purposes as well
as proof is priceless. Polaroid does a good job by adding a little
humor to the commercial because these days, people love to watch stuff
that is entertaining and funny and not just so informative. Now what
would everyone do if not a single camera was available at the time everyone
spotted the alien and the UFO? I bet everyone would be kicking each
other in the ass for not buying one in the first place.
