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History of Advertising

In early times advertising was no more than signs painted on walls and town criers, who were hired by merchants to praise their goods (outdoor advertising). Gutenberg was the one who invented movable type printing press in 1450. This invention resulted in the mass production of posters and circulars. In 1472 the first advertisement was printed as a handbill in English. (1) About 200 years later, an English printed the first ad in the newspaper (1&2). The ad was about rewarding anyone who found twelve stolen horses 1). 7th century was the beginning of the appearance of classified ads in England’s newsweeklies (1). In 1 625 the first newsboys was published which contained ads (2). By 1657 the reach was up to 500,000 people and it was in this year that the first public adviser appeared. The first ever ad that was placed was by a Monarch in a newspaper- Charles II, in the Mercuric Publics in 1660. A copy of this ad can be found in the book of E. S. Turner called “The Shocking History of Advertising” (2). The first advertising agency as established in 1841 by Volley Palmer in Boston.

It was this agency that provided the businesses the commission system. In this the businesses were offered a 25% discount on ad space in a newspaper. N. W. Are & Son was the first full-service agency established in 1869 (1 One of the most successful and earliest advertising campaign was launched by the Pears soap. Thomas Barrett, known as the father of modern advertising, launched a series of ads in the late 19th century. These ads featured children, women, animals and lowers which were used to promote company’s products (1).

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