Futurism And Advertising In The 1960s Space Age

“Introducing the lasted, newly improved widget… anyone whose anyone has one… it is a must have!” These words sound familiar? This is due in part, because advertising today has taken such extreme measures to persuade the American public; materialism has become the most prominent and universal mentality. The need to have the newest and best has become an instilled characteristic of the average citizen. How, you may wonder, has the advertising industry become such a powerful entity? The answer is that propaganda has always played a vital role in society; this is not a new concept. Throughout history propaganda/advertising has been to entice, elude, and manipulate people.

The rise in advertisement played a key role in the rise of consumption. Thanks to well-developed advertisement campaigns, America redefined what a necessity is. Advertisers encouraged Americans to actively work towards maintaining a high social standing. “Advertisers made no secret of their intention to promote novelty for its own sake, in the hope that consumers would exchange perfectly serviceable goods for goods that conformed to the latest fashions” (Lasch, 2000). Consumers devoured this advertisement scheme and began to rapidly increase their spending. Many advertisements for common, household products made claim that they could make the normal appear comparable to the high end. For example, Lux, a soap company, ran an ad in 1920 that depicted two women talking - one of the women complemented on the other on the quantity of sweaters she owned, only to find out that it is not a new sweater, but rather her old sweater that Lux soap made it look brand new (Lux)! Men and women alike began to believe

It is impossible to turn on a radio station and not hear an advertisement, whether it be for a business or a political campaign happening at the time. Advertising surrounds us completely in our daily lives just as it began to do then. Another interesting similarity between the two would be how the advertising creates needs for things people do not particularly need. For example, women in society originally did not shave anywhere and it was seen as peculiar when they did. When shaving companies began using advertising in this time, they realized they could gain more profits by marketing the products to women too. As a result, they made it seem strange for women to NOT shave and therefore, increased their profits and created a new hygiene standard for women still existing in current times. In modern times advertising companies create the need by convincing you your social, relationship, and political status will change upon purchasing their

The transition from a singular print environment to one that youth to senior could be influenced is remarkable. Telephones in the household allowed communication to move at an extremely rapid pace compared to days of past. Astute was to tie the ready availability of credit to mass advertisement. In many ways the shift from an “earn before purchase” attitude to the “purchase on time” and have now are some of the steps that lead to the great depression in my mind. Companies were developing their strategies for advertisement if they were playing to the air of

In the article “Commodify Your Dissent”, Thomas Frank argues about his point that is based on the American cultural ideas in the 1950s. There are a lot of differences between two lifestyles, such as education, technology, and fashion. I strongly agree with Thomas Frank that marketing no longer promotes conformity, but, rather, promotes “never-ending self-fulfillment” and “constantly updated individualism”. Because humans’ interest and trend are changing over time, humans’ needs gradually increase. Back then, people only use magazines and TV to advertise their products. Nowadays, the technology is developed significantly, so advertisers have to change to match the society’s trends to get customers attention. Moreover, they have a lot of good

(Williams). Advertising changed tremendously throughout the 1920’s and advertisers began to understand the concept of consumerism. Appealing to the audience through slogans, brands, and memorable pictures became a huge

The 1960s in America were a time of enormous social and political change. Old attitudes toward war, race, gender, age, tradition and authority were challenged. Idealistic young people protested against the materialism, consumerism, capitalism and conformism of their parents' generation.

The 1940s and 1950s allowed fashion designers to explore shapes, textures, and colors, and incorporating these elements of art into their garments. Not only this, the Modernist ideal simplified the mainstream definition of fashion, and threw away the restrictions of what the “typical woman” should look like. Although fashion changes daily, the turn of the twentieth century completely altered the way people worldwide saw the fashion industry. Fashion “functions as an intimate join between body and world, linking individuals” (Parkins 7), and embraces culture throughout the

In the past, since publishing was various and there were not electronic devices, the advertisements were usually in the newspaper, magazines, billboards, and another printed advertisements. Product was relatively organic and goods for their daily activities. After radio and television were innovated, the advertisements were usually on radio and television because people like listening to radio and watching television rather than reading newspaper or magazines. During World War 2, purchasing rate was decreased because buyer were limited the quantity of purchasing products in order to prevent products shortages. After the war ended, purchasing rate sharply increased.

American fashion designer Tom Ford once said that, "...these are surreal times we're living in…”, referencing the forward thinking and fast paced world of modern art in all of its forms. Surrealism was a cultural movement beginning in the early 1920’s that was known primarily for its visual artworks. The aim of surrealism was to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality" and tap into the unconscious mind. Surrealist artists sought to channel the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination. Their emphasis on the power of personal imagination puts them in similar categories of true romantics, but unlike their romantic predecessors, they believed that inspiration could be found on the street in everyday

The term “pop art” is used to describe the artistic movement that took place between 1950 and 1970 originating from England. However, pop art reached its prime in America in the 1960s. This movement was meant to be a lighthearted reaction to the seriousness of its predecessor, the abstract expressionist movement. Pop art can easily be identified by commercial items and celebrities portrayed in various vibrant colors and often shown in repetition.

Futurism was a primarily Italian movement that expressed the ideals of industrialization, and strived to evoke all kinds of sensations through their paintings. The movement also wanted to demonstrate the beauty of modern life and developed an entire philosophy that extended to social and political beliefs. (Roth-Davies pg 10) Futurism was a movement born out of boredom with Romanticism, debauchery and sappiness.

During the nineteenth century productive potential went up drastically, leaving product demand to fall far below the productive potential. As a result there was a rise in advertising, because now the problem was “how to market or sell goods.” This hyper focus on advertising  led products to have“artificial physical and/or moral obsolescence”. The reason being because manufacturers were just trying to sell their products. Economists criticize advertising for  selling  “obsolete products”  because they create a “massive waste of material and human resources.” Critics predict that “full employment would prevail in the absence of advertising.” This  is supported for two reasons. The first reasons  is that crtics believe that resources devoted to

Futurism is an art movement of the early 20th century. It was founded in 1909 in Italy, by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, who was an Italian poet and editor. Futurism celebrated the advanced technology of the time and how major cities were becoming more modern. The futurism movement was important as it influenced most of Europe, and the most significant results were in the visual arts and poetry. Futurism was influenced by elements of Neo-Impressionism and Cubism.

Futurism is the most important Italian avant-garde movements of the twentieth century. Celebrating the advanced technology and urban modernity the world was quickly developing, futurism aimed to demonstrate the beauty of the machine, speed, violence and change. It allowed artists and designers to communicate with an audience in a new way that wasn 't so traditional. This was particularly helpful to Russia during the time of the revolution because accompanying a new outlook on politics