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.