About this item
Highlights
- This fully illustrated book offers a sweeping history of advertising.
- About the Author: Jef I. Richards has served as chair of the Department of Advertising & Public Relations at Michigan State University, and as chair of the Department of Advertising at the University of Texas, the two largest and most influential university advertising programs in the United States.
- 464 Pages
- Business + Money Management, Advertising & Promotion
Description
About the Book
This fully illustrated book offers a sweeping history of advertising. It places developments in the advertising and marketing industries within a framework of major cultural events to help readers understand the conditions under which advertising developed. Timelines of histor...Book Synopsis
This fully illustrated book offers a sweeping history of advertising. It places developments in the advertising and marketing industries within a framework of major cultural events to help readers understand the conditions under which advertising developed. Timelines of historical and advertising industry events begin each chronological section.
Review Quotes
A fascinating read that educates, informs and enlightens. I know of no other publication that gives such a deep dive into the History of Advertising from ancient times through COVID times. One great takeaway was "The 10 commandments of Advertising" written in 1911 but still holds true today. Enjoy the read.
A History of Advertising: The First 300,000 Years by Jef Richards is in a league of its own. This wildly original and fast-paced examination carries us through the world of advertising from its earliest beginnings to the modern-day. Unlike any other book, this one takes us from the very beginnings, through the highs and lows of advertising, posing provocative questions along the way and offering fascinating points of view on how branding, advertising and PR evolved in lock step with human existence.
Jef is an enormously gifted author and his writing - fast paced, insightful and slam-bang full of remarkable details - is an indulgence and rewards readers (including this jaded ad agency CEO) with a new and completely unique portal into our shared past and gives us an intuitively connected view to how advertising transformed and shaped the world into what we see today. For marketers to history buffs, Richards has created a story that will keep you turning the pages and might even help connect a few dots of intriguing facts that you never knew existed in the first place.
In addition to the extensive timelines, great selection of illustrations, and snappy prose, Richards has compiled impressive lists of advertising institutions, trade characters, jingles, and slogans over time. Arranged in chronological order from date of the earliest creation, these collections should be of great interest to most readers who have lived through some of this history.
Marketers describe advertising as a paid form of nonpersonal communication meant to persuade. Researchers have found examples of advertising dating back to ancient times, including a hanging tag used to identify a bottle of oil in 3000 BCE. Richards puts together the whole story of this fascinating, critical component of marketing. Students and practitioners of advertising and history will find the evolution of advertising from basic names, signs, and labels to the sophisticated electronic media of today a remarkable journey.... Richards' book is packed with examples and a timeline that threads together each advertising development, resulting in a surprising, fascinating historical narrative. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty and professionals.
Most people practicing advertising today care little about what came before. They only care about today. Yet, to quote Soren Kierkegaard "Life can only be understood looking backwards: but it must be lived forward". So do yourself a favor, take a long backward look with Jef and become better prepared for today, and tomorrow.
Richards creates a "portable museum of advertising," arranged chronologically and designed to encourage browsing. Readers can dip in and out, encouraged by hundreds of illustrations, primarily of advertisements past and present. Chapters 8 and 16 on social implications, ads, and culture relate interesting facts on how advertising both influences and reflects its time. Delivers a broad look from ancient times (there is evidence of Roman shops signs in BCE 776) to modern promotional products (Livestrong bracelets; MAGA caps). Well-documented and scholarly with crossover appeal for general audiences.
About the Author
Jef I. Richards has served as chair of the Department of Advertising & Public Relations at Michigan State University, and as chair of the Department of Advertising at the University of Texas, the two largest and most influential university advertising programs in the United States. He is author or co-author of more than 90 published books, book chapters, and articles about advertising, marketing, or communications. He is on the advisory council of the Institute for Advertising Ethics (of the American Advertising Federation), on the board of directors for the Advertising Educational Foundation (of the Association of National Advertisers), and a panel member of the National Advertising Review Board (of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council). Richards also is former president of the American Academy of Advertising, is a named fellow of that organization, as well as a recipient of its prestigious Ivan L. Preston Outstanding Contribution to Research Award. He is the inaugural inductee into the Rowan University Advertising Hall of Fame.
