The Changing Advertising Industry

The advertising industry is an industry that has existed since the 1600s. Its first uses included inspiring English settlers to venture out in ships and form colonies in new parts of the world, as well as to advertise new goods and commodities discovered and traded from newly discovered parts of the world. Nowadays, it is primarily used to advertise goods and services, and it is impossible to go a day in the modern world without seeing an ad somewhere. Things like TV commercials, previews before movies, ads on social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram, all of these are examples of modern advertisement. The growth of the advertisement industry is quick and creative, but its history is just as fascinating. In this post I will examine a historical and a contemporary ad for the same product, and explore their similarities and differences in the way that they display the desired product.

The advertisement displayed on the right is an ad from 1923 by Colgate & Company that advertises a shaving cream called "Colgate's Rapid Shaving Cream." The first thing that stands out is the image of the bearded man at the top. His beard looks very well kept and soft, and is drawn that way to make the reader want the same thing. The ad is inferring through this that by using their shaving cream, their beard can look as nice as the beard of the man in the picture. The tones of the ad are soft, with blue being the only color used aside from black and white. This soft, less poppy color palette was chosen to soothe the eyes and create a connection with the softness that the shaving cream claims it can create. The way the text was placed on the blue circle makes it stand out. The beginning of the text with the white background hooks the reader in by describing the unruly beards of politicians forty years ago, and ends it by saying the Congress had an excuse for unkept beards, which was that the product being marketed did not exist yet. The text uses humor and irony to emotionally appear to the reader, and also drops a few names of important historical men who were in the government. And, since men were aware of and admired many political figures it makes them think "Well if important men such as Blaine and Conkling would have used this product, I should too!" The ad also displays two images, one of shaving with other shaving creams, and another with Colgate's Rapid Shaving Cream. The first image shows that the other shaving creams don't go all the way down to the bottom of the hair, but the second image does, and it explains how it softens the hair "where it meets the edge of the razor." The second paragraph with the blue background explains exactly how the shaving cream works, using exciting and well thought-out language to make the shaving cream seem revolutionary. It also offers to send in a free sample of shaving cream to whoever mails out the attached coupon. These free samples will give the shaving cream an opportunity to demonstrate how it works, and since it is free, readers will think they have nothing to lose by trying the shaving cream. If they like the samples, the company has a new buyer.


This advertisement is a modern advertisement for a shaving cream called Edge. The first thing that catches the eye is the pretty girl in undergarments. This creates an association with using the shaving cream and pretty girls. In small white print, the words "With a smooth shave, she may give you a chance," which reinforces that thought process. Bright and soft tones of orange with a sunset background on a beach give the reader a sense of paradise, and that added with the pretty half naked girl appeals to what the advertiser believes are men's desires. The words "What's behind our shave cream? There's only one way to find out." are also displayed as a sort of challenge, challenging the reader to try out the shave cream and find out for themselves.

The first ad referenced political people and although it did mention a man's wife trying to kiss him through his tangled beard, it was more centered around appealing to a mans desire for a smooth shave. It used proper, more complex language and actually explained how the shave cream works and what makes it stand out from the others. The second advertisement appealed more to a man's emotional desire to be attractive to the opposite sex by using a hot girl and inferring that by using the shave cream, it will make them more desirable to women. It had more sexual undertones, and used more bright, vibrant colors to really pop and stick out. Contemporary advertising images use less words and explanations so as to not overwhelm the reader. This is because most ads nowadays are only glanced at, and most people wouldn't take the time to read everything. Contemporary ads also use more sex appeal, particularly those for hygiene products such as shaving cream and shampoo. Ads nowadays also tend to steer clear of mentioning politics because our country is so divided and they would not want to alienate half of their potential buyers. However in the past people were less angry and emotional about politics, so mentioning political figures would not necessarily turn people off from the product. Advertisements have existed for a long time, but the way they are designed and the methods they use to appeal to their audiences have changed dramatically in order to adapt with the changing times.

Riot Games Social Media Use

Riot Games is a video game developer that created and runs League of Legends, who, with over 100 million players every month, is the most played video game in the world. Every year, Riot also holds many League of Legends tournaments worldwide, with competitive League of Legends being one of the biggest eSport games to date. Riot uses social media to inform its players of new updates coming to the game such as new champions, skins, and patch updates, as well as to keep in touch with its players thoughts on the game and what they want changed or improved. Riot also uses social media to bring attention to fan-made creations such as fanart, and even has a twitter called @RiotSupport in order to be able to talk in real time with problems players encounter when playing the game.

Graves splash art after he got his cigar back

Riot mainly uses Twitter to keep in touch with its player base, and has numerous different twitters for different uses. There is the main League of Legends Twitter @LeagueofLegends, the official Riot Twitter @riotgames, the eSport Twitter @lolesports, and the help Twitter @RiotSupport. There are also other twitters for different regions in order to appeal to its fanbase around the world, such as Europe's League of Legends Twitter @loleu. Each Twitter has its own uses, but League of Legend's main Twitter @LeagueofLegends is used to keep players informed of new things coming out in the game, as well as keep players updated on patch notes and changes being made to the game in each update. Each Twitter is very active, and replies to many Tweets sent to them. @RiotSupport responds to every Tweet sent to them, as it is there to assist players that are having problems with the game, such as technical issues. @RiotSupport even occasionally gifts players with a few extra Riot Points, which is a currency you can buy with real money in the game, if they draw Riot a picture and say that they are only a few RP away from being able to buy a certain thing in the game. Riot also has Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and a few other social media accounts. Riot is very effective at keeping in touch with its player base, and is aware of all the ongoing jokes and memes about their game. For example, at one point Riot removed the cigar from Graves' splash art, which is the image you see of the champion in the loading screen of the game. The fanbase turned it into a meme, and said things like "Riot can make all these changes but still won't give Graves his cigar back." In response, Riot actually re-added the cigar to Graves splash art. Riot is very active on its social media sites, particularly Twitter, and responds quickly and Tweets regularly with new updates and announcements about the game. Riot is also great at opening discourse on its social media with music, fanart, even character creation contests, and uses engaging captions, pictures, and videos to keep its fanbase interested. For example, when new skins are created they announce them, then show us the splash art and follow it with a short gameplay video trailer to let us see how the skin looks in-game. Riot also retweets player creations such as fanart and cosplays, and posts things like interviews of famous eSport players, as well as trailers for new lines of skins and champions that are coming out with exciting animations and graphics. Their Twitter also keeps fans updated on eSport game results, and knows how to hype its players up for upcoming tournaments and new releases.

Fanart by @sonwooang on Twitter of the new skin line coming out that @LeagueofLegends retweeted

In my opinion, Riot is doing very well at keeping its playerbase engaged, and uses social media effectively and appropriately. They Tweet daily, and are aware of their fanbase's wants and are fairly good at delivering. Of course, it is impossible to make everybody happy, especially with such a complex game with so many components to it, but Riot does a great job. Riot knows how to deliver great customer service, and keeps its playerbase updated and aware of changes through its social media. I personally have Twitter notifications on for @LeagueofLegends, because that way every time something new is announced or the new patch notes are released, I am among the first to know. I have also tweeted @RiotSupport a few times, and each time they replied the same day and offered all the help they were able to give me. I think they are doing a great job, and their social media keeps me updated and aware of all the new changes coming to the game.