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Advertising: Differences Between The 1890s And The 1990s

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Advertising, generally speaking, is the promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas, usually performed by an identified sponsor. Marketers see advertising as part of an overall promotional strategy. Other components of the promotional mix include publicity, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion.
Advertising involves the process where in a massage is designed so as to promote a product, a thought, an idea or even a service. The concept of advertising has assumed a dynamic form with the use of the various mediums of communication. From the newspaper, magazines, posters, neon and fluorescent signboards, billboards to the commercial on TV, laser shows to inflated high-rise figures and objects, advertising has come a …show more content…

It wasn=t long before the Aspectacular@ was born. Spectaculars are bright, lighted billboards made of many bulbs (the slogan or logo is often spelled out in light) which often contains some three-dimensional elements. The first spectaculars debuted at the end of the 19th century, along with the first lighted marquees. At the end of the 20th century, spectaculars have become even more important, becoming landmarks in places like New York City and Las Vegas. However, outside of the landmark status of some spectaculars, outdoor advertising is very limited.
The largest differences between the advertising of the 1890s and the 1990s are the sheer number of media available and what can be called the culture of Acool.@ The 1990s has radio, television, ads before motion pictures and videotapes, Internet advertising of various types (email Aspam@ banner ads), direct mail advertising, blimps and cropdusters to add to the arsenal of outdoor advertisement and concentrated target marketing. More important than the available media is the net effect of advertising. Advertising is now totalizing, both the dominant culture and counterculture are appealed to. Instead of simply announcing the existence of a product, advertising works to create a culture of consumption for everyone. Advertising's images of consumption evolved from phony promises of a better life for white, nuclear families to the hip-based brand of product cool that still exists today. (Frank, 1997).

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