About this Project In support of the Give Local York (GLY) group, who are focusing on raising money for nonprofit organizations, our group decided to put up an arts and crafts stand in Downtown York on May 4th to raise money for the GLY stretch pool which would split the money between all of the participating nonprofits. In order to raise awareness for our stand along with the movement, a few people in our group and I created an advertisement to be played on CTV. I decided to do a portion of the editing for the advertisement, so that I could get some experience with iMovie on the Mac for possible projects in the future, school-related or not. We decided to make the advertisement very spoof-like in order to draw attention to the ad as well as promote our stand in an informational way.
I also decided to research advertisements in the 1950s because this was a time where advertisements were a very large part of society. By researching advertising in the 1950s, I can better understand where some of the persuasion tactics that are used in more modern ads have evolved from. This also gives a good look at how persuasion tactics have or have not changed over time with the rise of TVs or radios. Not only that, but I have a personal interest for the 1950s because of the type of clothing being worn, the kinds of cars that were driven, and the style of the architecture as well. The process After a few meetings with the GLY group along with a few ideas for what we wanted to do, I ended up writing a draft for a CTV ad that would promote a movie night. Later we found out we couldn't do a movie night due to copyright issues and so instead we decided to set up an arts and crafts stand for kids along with selling snacks like cookies and popcorn. As I finished the editing for the advertisement, I shifted my focus onto my individual part and decided to research adverts in the 1950s.
I mainly wanted to research this in particular because this was a time where advertisements were a very large part of society. By researching advertising in the 1950s, I can better understand where some of the persuasion tactics that are used in more modern ads have come from. This also gives a good look at how persuasion tactics have changed over time. Not only that, but I have a personal interest for the 1950s because of the style of clothing being worn, the kinds of cars that were driven, and some of the architecture as well. After doing my research, I organized my thoughts and revised it. I also analyzed two radio ads from the 1950s and how they used certain persuasion tactics to their best extent. Language Arts: I wrote a few sections of informational pieces, and did an analysis (turns into expository writing) of two ads. Reasoning: Explaining the persuasion tactics each advert used to try and sell their product or service. Art: I did some of the editing for the CTV advertisement. Reasoning: Why we decided to do certain things in the advertisement; elaborating on certain decisions. Social Studies: I researched persuasion tactics of advertisements in the 1950s focusing mainly on those of TVs and radios. I also took a look at the use of persuasion tactics in modern adverts. |
Surprisingly enough, the 1950s largely impacted the ads that we see today. Because advertisements were a very large part of society during the 1950s, it was important for advertisers to develop their craft and the use of persuasive techniques in order to target specific audiences. Understanding the context of change between the 1940s and 1950s is of utmost importance in perceiving the role of advertising and how it has changed.
After World War II, demand for certain consumer products allowed for manufacturing to steadily grow. There was also a large increase in the population after the war which led to more housing and in turn required more appliances to fill the homes. People wanted products like cars, TVs, washing machines, vacuums and other items for their houses and daily lives (“History: 1950s.”). Due to the shift of focus onto consumer products, there was a need for companies like Chevrolet, Hoover, and Tide to advertise their products to people, and the rise of TVs and radios gave them just the platform they needed to help spread their products to an even wider audience. There was also a shift away from the memories of the Great Depression and the war to a more positive family oriented future of comfort and happiness (“History: 1950s.”). More people wanted to focus on brighter things, so recreational activities like bowling, board games, and golf were advertised much more along with items like vinyl records and comic books. After the war, people started to have lots more time to just sit back and relax. Advertisements also started to target more audiences like children and teens, as well as promoting certain ideals like the importance of having a car (“History: 1950s.”). Teens, who were around the driving age, and wanted the freedom to go to many different places, were a target audience because of their potential to buy. There was also an ideal that a good citizen was one who often purchased the newer and better versions of products as they came out, and spending of money should be in a reasonable portion rather than for the luxury (“The Rise of American Consumerism.”). Because of this idea, ads would often stress how their product is new and better in comparison to the ones that they sold in the past, and these kinds of ads would target people who wanted the best of the best. In conclusion, the change and increase of advertising in the 1950s was the start of a major focus shift onto consumers and the consumer products. They moved ads away from focuses on the war and more towards recreational activities or items of practicality, and widening their audiences to young adults and children. |
“History: 1950s.” Ad Age, Ad Age, 15 Sept. 2003, adage.com/article/adage-
encyclopedia/history-1950s/98701/. “The History of Television Ads.” Https://Www.qualitylogoproducts.com/, Quality Logo Productions, Inc., 2018, www.qualitylogoproducts.com/promo-university/history-of-tv-ads.htm. Gallegos, Jose Angelo. “The History and Evolution of Advertising.” TINT Blog, TINT, 20 Apr. 2018, www.tintup.com/blog/history-evolution-advertising-marketing/. Gibson, Nick. “5 Vintage Advertising Techniques That Still Work Today.” Udemy Blog, Udemy, Inc., 13 June 2014, blog.udemy.com/vintage-advertising/. “Persuasive Techniques in Advertising.” ReadWriteThink, 2009. “The Rise of American Consumerism.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 2018, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/tupperware-consumer/. Suggett, Paul. “13 Ways Advertisers Persuade You to Buy.” The Balance Careers, The Balance Careers, 8 Dec. 2017, www.thebalancecareers.com/10-ways-advertisers-persuade-you-to-buy- 4084767. |