Advertising during the 1920's was geared toward getting
American's to buy new inventions and to take advantage of the advent
of buying on margin. Advertising also took a new turn with the
invention of the radio. Manufacturers no longer had to rely soley on
printed text. They could turn to radio!
During the 1920's, what society thought was very important.
Advertising, as we know it today, was born during the 1920's.
Advertisers took advantage people's insecurites, desires, and
curiousity with their new ads. Deodorant and soap companies tried to
scare people into using their product. What would other people think
if a person didn't use a certain product? Believe it or not, people
were extremely concerned with that issue. Scary, medical terms were
pulled out of the dictionary, and became everyday vocabulary. In the
case of the Listerine company, the term " halitosis" was used to
initiate anxieties of bad breath (Berkin p.497). Automobile companies
kept coming out with newer, and better models every year to keep
customers interested.
With the invention of radio came a whole new horizon of advertising
possibilities. Before the invention of the radio, advertising was
limited to print, like magazines, posters, and papers. Jingles became
the newest way to get the slogan out. Advertising was so effective in
the 1920's, economists are still trying to get America back into the
old habits of being thrifty.
In conclusion, the new era of advertising in the 1920's helped open
new possibilities for advertising of the future. Many new advertising
techniques developed in the 1920's were very effective and are still
used to this day.
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Works Cited
Goodrum, Charles and Helen Darlymple. Advertising in America: The
First 200 Years. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York. 1990.
