Advertising
In 4000 BC, rock art in India displayed commercial messages that would evolve into modern advertising. Ancient Egyptians used papyrus to create sales messages and wall posters for their goods. Archaeologists found commercial messages and political campaign displays in the ruins of Pompeii and ancient Arabia. Lost and found advertising on papyrus was common in both ancient Greece and ancient Rome. A copper printing plate from the Song dynasty era in China printed posters featuring a rabbit logo. This square sheet of paper included the copy "Jinan Liu's Fine Needle Shop" written above and below. It is considered the world's earliest identified printed advertising medium. In ancient China, bamboo flutes playing to sell confectionery were described in the Classic of Poetry between the 11th and 7th centuries BC. Calligraphic signboards and inked papers served as early forms of advertising. Wall or rock painting for commercial advertising remains present today in many parts of Asia, Africa, and South America.
By the end of the 18th century in England, newspaper circulation had increased significantly. Advertising accounted for a significant proportion of newspaper content during this period. The word 'advertiser' began to be used in newspaper names and titles around this time. Prior to the 19th century, most advertisements were for books or medicines. Images were rarely used in advertisements before the 19th century. By 1822, the United States had more newspaper readers than any other country. About half of the content of these newspapers consisted of advertising. Half of the daily newspapers in the 1810s used the word 'advertiser' in their name. In June 1836, the French newspaper La Presse became the first to include paid advertising in its pages. Volney B. Palmer established the roots of the modern day advertising agency in Philadelphia around 1840. He bought large amounts of space in various newspapers at a discounted rate then resold the space at higher rates to advertisers. The first full-service advertising agency of N.W. Ayer & Son was founded in 1869 in Philadelphia. Charles-Louis Havas extended the services of his news agency, Havas, to include advertisement brokerage in France.
Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, became associated with psychological methods in advertising during the early 20th century. He claimed that selling products by appealing to unconscious desires was much less effective than rational minds. "Sex sells" became a controversial issue with techniques for titillating and enlarging the audience posing a challenge to conventional morality. Tobacco companies hired Bernays to create positive associations with tobacco smoking in the 1920s. One campaign involved having women march down the street demanding the right to smoke. Thomas J. Barratt of London has been called "the father of modern advertising." Working for the Pears soap company, Barratt created an effective advertising campaign involving targeted slogans and images. In 1882, Barratt recruited English actress and socialite Lillie Langtry to become the poster girl for Pears. This made her the first celebrity to endorse a commercial product. Psychologists Walter D. Scott and John B. Watson contributed applied psychological theory to the field of advertising in the 1920s. Scott said, "Man has been called the reasoning animal, but he could with greater truthfulness be called the creature of suggestion." Advertising agencies began using motivational research and consumer research to gather insights into consumer purchasing.
In the early 1920s, the first radio stations were established by radio equipment manufacturers. Retailers and consumer goods manufacturers quickly recognized radio's potential to reach consumers in their homes. Slogans, mascots, and jingles began to appear on radio in the 1920s and early television in the 1930s. The earliest radio drama series were sponsored by soap manufacturers and became known as soap operas. By the 1930s, advertising spots were being sold by the station's geographical sales representatives. In the early 1950s, the DuMont Television Network began the modern practice of selling advertisement time to multiple sponsors. Previously, DuMont had trouble finding sponsors for many of their programs and compensated by selling smaller blocks of advertising time to several businesses. This eventually became the standard for the commercial television industry in the United States. It was still a common practice to have single sponsor shows such as The United States Steel Hour. In some instances, sponsors exercised great control over the content of the show up to and including having one's advertising agency actually writing the show. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the introduction of cable television and particularly MTV. Pioneering the concept of the music video, MTV ushered in a new type of advertising.
The first banner ad appeared on the World Wide Web in 1994. Online advertising grew, contributing to the "dot-com" boom of the 1990s. Entire corporations operated solely on advertising revenue offering everything from coupons to free Internet access. Google was founded in 1998 and by the early 2000's had become the most widely used search engine. In 2000 Google launched AdWords which allowed advertisers to bid for their adverts to appear in paid search results. Their auction bidding system used factors such as click-through rate and relevance. Mobile phones became a new mass medium in 1998 when the first paid downloadable content appeared on mobile phones in Finland. Mobile advertising followed, first launched in Finland in 2000. By 2025 this had increased to an estimated market size of $262 billion. In 2024, global social media advertising spend was expected to be $247 billion. In 2025, Alphabet, Meta and Amazon controlled more than 50% of all advertising spend globally excluding China. These technology companies are able to invest heavily in AI optimisation and creative automation.
Advertising has gone through five major stages of development: domestic, export, international, multi-national, and global. For global advertisers there are four potentially competing business objectives that must be balanced when developing worldwide advertising. Building a brand while speaking with one voice is one objective. Developing economies of scale in the creative process is another. Maximizing local effectiveness of ads is a third objective. Increasing the company's speed of implementation is the fourth. Market research measures such as Flow of Attention, Flow of Emotion and branding moments provide insight into what works in an ad in any country or region. The ability to identify which elements and/or moments of an ad contribute to its success is how economies of scale are maximized. Once one knows what works in an ad, that idea or ideas can be imported by any other market. Advertising agencies like Omnicom, Publicis and WPP became the largest advertising agency groups internationally in 2025. Huntley & Palmers biscuits were sold in 172 countries in 1900 reflecting their global reach.
A 2021 study of TV advertising found that only a third of advertisers achieved a positive return on investment. Unsolicited commercial e-mail and other forms of spam became so common it was considered to be a nuisance. Advertising is increasingly prevalent in public spaces such as schools which some critics argue is unethical. One of the common criticisms of advertising is the predominance of advertising foods high in sugar fat and salt specifically to children. Michelle Obama criticized food companies for advertising unhealthy foods to children. Cosmetic and health industry advertising has created causes of concern such as being misleading. Political advertising has been scrutinized for misinformation ethics and political bias. There have been increasing efforts to protect people by regulating the content and influence of advertising. Some examples include restrictions for advertising alcohol tobacco or gambling imposed in many countries. Bans on advertising to children exist in some parts of Europe. In France advertisers sometimes print English words in bold and French translations in fine print to deal with Article 120 of the 1994 Toubon Law limiting the use of English. The display of some advertisements without consent is a criminal offence liable to a fine of £2,500 in the UK. Cities such as São Paulo have introduced an outright ban on outdoor advertising.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When did advertising first appear in human history?
Rock art in India displayed commercial messages in 4000 BC that would evolve into modern advertising. Ancient Egyptians used papyrus to create sales messages and wall posters for their goods.
Who created the world's earliest identified printed advertising medium?
A copper printing plate from the Song dynasty era in China printed posters featuring a rabbit logo with the copy Jinan Liu's Fine Needle Shop written above and below. This square sheet of paper is considered the world's earliest identified printed advertising medium.
Which company hired Edward Bernays to create positive associations with tobacco smoking in the 1920s?
Tobacco companies hired Edward Bernays to create positive associations with tobacco smoking in the 1920s. One campaign involved having women march down the street demanding the right to smoke.
What year did the first banner ad appear on the World Wide Web?
The first banner ad appeared on the World Wide Web in 1994. Online advertising grew, contributing to the dot-com boom of the 1990s.
How much was global social media advertising spend expected to be in 2024?
In 2024, global social media advertising spend was expected to be $247 billion. In 2025, Alphabet, Meta and Amazon controlled more than 50% of all advertising spend globally excluding China.