The Role Of Advertising In The 1950's

Mensa’s packaging business had three major markets; Food and Beverage, Specialty Packaging, and International. This sector was economically sensitive, as it was difficult to build any competitive

Their saving grace was comic books, coming at a price affordable enough for most families. (Source 3, Caption of image showing comic book covers) Comic books laid the framework for many of the science fiction movies, as well as novels, brought by the 1950s. Next, the 1950s brought better everyday life for most Americans. According to Source 2, “Middle-class consumers could afford goods once considered luxuries, such as convertible automobiles and televisions.”

Americans’ everyday life. The Golden Age of television was a period of intense growth and expansion of

In contrast to the American market, the emergence of new competitors on the European market seemed to have the potential of a much more powerful impact. The European customer was not that “educated” about the product and many regarded packaging supplies as “expendable commodities”, making the price in this market a key driving determinant of purchase choice. In this context, the decision to diversify by enlarging the product line into uncoated bubble packaging material would have a lesser effect on firm’s image. Also, faced

The advent of television also caused a great impact in the American society that brought huge changes in the economy. American families during the 1950s started to replace radios, newspapers, and magazines as the leading media entertainment with televisions. They became common for families to unite and watch TV shows at noon. “Television as a product itself influenced the economy, creating what quickly became an essential household item. By 1957, over 40 million TVs were in American households”. Fundamentally, television altered how Americans utilize their free time, but economically there was even a major impact. Businesses around the country started to use the TV for advertising and marketing to sell their products easier. TV commercials

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, television quickly emerged into a popular and greatly desired entertainment system in America. Although expensive, the television was still found in over fifty million American homes. Socially, the television not only embellished what the time period believed to be the “ideal” family, but the new technology also helped pull women closer to a world vacant of sexism and stereotypes, while also drawing African Americans closer to a society without racism, segregation, and prejudice. As well as social benefits, the television substantially impacted the world of politics by airing the platforms of political candidates and broadcasting important news concerning America. Additionally, the fields of advertising and

World War II ended on September 2, 1945, and citizens in America were dwelling in the postwar booming economy. Thus, people had a hole burning in their pocket and many entrepreneurs found a means in which they could supply their products to consumers. Therefore, television became a method of communication, rather than the radio, the television allowed individuals to watch events in the comfort in their living room. In the 1950’s a television could be found in almost every American’s home becoming known as the dawn of the television age. A famous sitcom in the 1950’s which first aired on October 5, 1951 is I Love Lucy. This particular show is the building blocks of the beginning of television, exposing viewers of the society in the 1950’s, along with the minimal similarities and mass differences when compared to today’s shows.

While much of the power of television in the 1960’s can be attributed to the mainstream availability and shear increase in ownership, the delivery format also contributed to its influence. One of the biggest

Consumerism on the Rise The years of the 1950s and the 1960s witnessed significant changes that dramatically changed the ways American families and citizens’ lifestyles as well as changed the way businesses approached their customers and consumers. Out of the depth of a darkened economy the United States economy system was booming, more than what it had been since the stock market crash almost 30 years ago. Many areas grew as well as the economy. Around this time WWII had just ended and as a result, all the soldiers were returning from the battles that subsided overseas.

Like many Americans television has become a way of life, from news media, sporting spectacles and even a source of live music at home. The 50’s had a booming stage of live broadcasting to television that was now available for home viewers. This cultivating production to single family homes was a monumental achievement in mass communication to local families in the states. The platform or audience base for political leaders and up a coming powerful figures in history, had a way to reach views who might have never know about them. Taken from author Anna McCarthy words on “the existence of TV’s mass audience provided the powerful people with opportunities to talk about and given form to the amorphous collectivity of the nation”. In other words broad casting was the number one audience for powerful people who wanted to be heard and seen. Mean the voice of the people was very creditable when broadcasting an average

Beginning in the 1980, advertisers started to focus on children and tried to attract them to

Throughout recent history, the fifties proved to be the most interesting to me because not only was it a time of great economic expansion; but it was also known as a period where current citizens and leaders of the United States frowned upon. The “Golden Age” proved to be one of the most outbreaking movements of the industrial age. This period in American history gave citizens of the United States access to a better standard of living, transformed American agriculture, and brought the rise of the suburban nation. Remarkably, the employment rate for women had skyrocketed during the year of 1955 proving that

Advertising remains within a perpetual state of change but the 1960s saw a significant change in the approach advertisers took to target consumers. Automation allowed for mass production of goods which meant that advertisers had to convince a consumer that a mass-produced item could be made personal and contribute to their individuality. Consumers were trying to be seen as individuals, this caused demassification as consumers began to be grouped into more and more refined categories. Advertising became less about what the product did and more about how the product contributed to individuality and advertisers used the counterculture and anti-consumerism as a way to target consumers. “The message in the new ads was quite simply, ‘buy this good to escape consumerism.’” (Reading, 7). This may be considered deceptive towards consumers as the advertising takes advantage of insecurities and consumers desperate want for social acceptance and individuality. There were multiple shifts in advertising formats the product-information format, product-image format, personalised format and the lifestyle format each targeting consumers in a different way, the final shifts were more effective in targeting those with an anti- ad mind-set

Television sets were commercially available since the late 1920s but in very small quantities. Since then television had become a bit more common in houses or business institutions because of it’s purposes. Which are entertainment, and news. In the 1950s, television shaped public opinion among citizens. After the

Appealing packaging? Alluring plastic? Fantastic box? Appearances of products always attract people before they decide to buy. Therefore, most individuals are actually purchasing the “packaging” instead of the real products that they first intended on buying. Hine mentioned, “Packaging are an inescapable part of modern life” (93). However, how can we discover the authentic value from the superficial packaging?