PRINT ADVERTISEMENTS

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EVOLUTION OF PRINT ADVERTISEMENTS

by Andrea Johnson

Historically speaking, print ads have not been around for long. In The Discourse of Advertising: 2nd Edition, Guy Cook states: [a]lthough it is sometimes said that there have been ads at least since classical times - the earliest known ad supposedly being for a brothel in Ephesus (D. White 1988) - advertising in the era of colour magazines, television, and the internet is a new phenomenon, both in nature, quantity and effect. Yet although contemporary advertising is relatively young, it already has a considerable tradition. Each new ad is encountered against a background of thousands of earlier ads (Cook 6).

Advertising at the beginning of the twenty first century is radically different from that of the 1950s and 1960s, though also in a direct line of descent from it. There is no clear point of change, but the recognition that there have been changes is essential (Cook 9).

Here we see that over time the content of ads has changed. More specifically, the use of written text has decreased and the quality of images has improved and has also become more of a focus than the written text itself. A possible reason for this change in the content of print advertising is that the methods used to appeal to consumers has shifted from an appeal based on logos to one based on pathos.