It Satisfies the Thirsty and Helps the Weary

Coca-Cola debuted in 1886 with a bang from use of posters to promotional items like trade cards; this particular print ad comes from 1905. Originally, Coke, a shortening of the brand name introduced later in the product's life, was advertised as a sort of remedy or cure-all but it was Coke, around 1900, who first changed their strategy to one that pushed the refreshing nature of the soda. This ad falls somewhere in the middle of those to advertising strategies. Targeted at white, working and business class men ages 16-35, this ad is selling the idea of being refreshing but still claiming to help the weary. This ad is was probably pretty effective in attracting customers to the product because it held true to the original audience of the product who believed it to relieve stress and other conditions, but also to the newer group of people who just want something to satisfy their thirst. This made it an important product of the time period because it's one of the first of its kind. There were few other products at the time that could compete with the satisfaction of an ice cold fountain or bottled Coca-Cola. This ad also seems to make the assertion that only white males are going to be thirsty and weary seeing as everyone enjoying Coke in the ad and the worker are all white males. Overall, the elements in the ad make it a perfect ad for the time period it was created.

As You Desire Me

This ad, created in 1932, targets women who are beginning to deal with the signs of aging between the ages of 25-40 to sell their Palmolive Soap, said to be able to give women youthful skin. This ad is ineffective in persuading because there is entirely too much copy on it. On top of that, the ad uses some very tiny font size with the parts that are supposed to stand out only being a few points larger. This is definitely a time of youth and beauty and this ad plays that up. The slice-of-life technique is being employed by this ad by emphasizing the importance of youthful skin along with the hard sell by being in the audiences faces with beauty and youth.

America Runs on Bulova Time

This is the first ever TV commercial advertisement, selling Bulova Watches. Played during a baseball game in 1941. This ad was targeted at professional males between the ages of 25-40 who would be wearing watches. With its message that "America runs on Bulova Time," this ad successfully captures its audience at the time to me because it's playing the patriotic angle in a time between the World Wars. It is also important to note that shortly after this, America entered the war and that was the end of television for some time. This ad uses a hard sell technique to try and sell the product by using the patriotism of the American people. In this time between WWI and WWII, America had entered into a time of prosperity and excess and a watch was a symbol of wealth because it was a luxury, especially one like the Bulova watches.