37 Vintage Ads That Highlight A Different Era Of Marketing

Often, the 50s and 60s were referred to as a sort of golden age of advertising. It’s no accident that the hit show Mad Men was set during this time period when both the science of marketing and economic booms all came together. It was the first time brands started to really think about a solid image to create and maintain and companies started to spend a lot of money working out ways to entice buyers.

This “golden age” wasn’t just a one-way street of businesses realizing that marketing had its advantages, it coincided with a lot of economic prosperity in the United States, as more and more families had money to spend on luxury items. In general, spending was no longer taboo, as it may have been during the great depression and companies found that they really did have to compete with a whole host of competitors. 

Once you add in all the new possibilities for where and how to display ads, you get a melting pot of creativity. Radio had been around for a while, but soon marketing teams realized that TV was a great medium to promote something. At the same time, many Americans were purchasing cars and traveling, making billboards potentially more effective. The result is that creatives, from cinematographers to musicians and artists could all be employed to make eye or ear-catching ads. 

Despite the veritable buffet of possibilities, many vintage ads were quite classy and creative, perhaps a result of many of the best minds going into advertising. WV's classic “think small” ad for the beetle is a good example of modernizing a pre-war car with an eye-catching, minimalist poster. It was also a clever way to stand out by not being more loud, flashy, or bombastic than many of its competitors. 

Curious readers can find a number of clever tricks used in the “think small” ad, including the way the car is angled to direct the reader toward the text. This text actually ends with a period, which was quite uncommon for the time, while the entire poster was black and white. This actually helped it stand out, as by 1959 most visual display ads would be in color. 

Other companies started to realize that they didn’t just have to sell a product, they could sell themselves, as a brand. These days, this has reached such a position that there are consumers who will buy something not because they like the product, but because they like the brand. Apple is a prime example of this. The origins of this idea can be traced back to a couple of different examples, including the Cadbury Flake Girl.

This would allow a large corporation to suddenly morph into a more personified character that people might relate to and even like. Other companies would try to associate their brand with enduring, desirable qualities, like reliability and innovation. This also freed up advertisers to expand on what they could show and talk about, as the topic no longer had to just be a product or service. 

These days, companies can and do actively advertise to children. In the past, it made sense to target adults, as they were the ones with any real purchasing power, but marketers quickly learned that a persistent child could talk parents into quite a lot. Similarly, many young adults were already working, so they could be persuaded to spend some of their hard-earned cash on luxuries and entertainment. 

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