20th Century Advertising distills some of the most effective and memorable campaigns of the century, resulting in a fascinating overview of a media that holds us all in its thrall.

James Twitchell takes an in-depth look at the ads and ad campaigns—and their creators—that have most influenced our culture and marketplace in the twentieth century. P. T. Barnum’s creation of buzz, Pepsodent and the magic of the preemptive claim, Listerine introducing America to the scourge of halitosis, Nike’s “Just Do It,” Clairol’s “Does She or Doesn’t She?,” Leo Burnett’s invention of the Marlboro Man, Revlon’s Charlie Girl, Coke’s re-creation of Santa Claus, Absolut and the art world—these campaigns are the signposts of a century of consumerism, our modern canon understood, accepted, beloved, and hated the world over.

From Mr. Clean to Mr. Bubble, from the wholesome Quaker Oats Man to the mischievous Trix Rabbit, advertising characters are as much a part of twentieth-century Amercia as the familiar products they symbolize. Illustrated with vivid, full-color photographs, and accompanied by a fascinating text, this fanciful volume offers an entertaining look at the history and design of these pop culture icons, with their timeless appeal for consumers of all ages.

Modern advertising was created in the US between 1870 and 1920 when advertisers and the increasingly specialized advertising industry that served them crafted means of reliable access to and knowledge of audiences. This highly original and accessible book re-centers the story of the invention of modern advertising on the question of how access to audiences was streamlined and standardized. Drawing from late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century materials, especially from the advertising industry’s professional journals and the business press, chapters on the development of print media, billboard, and direct mail advertising illustrate the struggles amongst advertisers, intermediaries, audience-sellers, and often-resistant audiences themselves. Over time, the maturing advertising industry transformed the haphazard business of getting advertisements before the eyes of the public into a market in which audience attention could be traded as a commodity. This book applies economic theory with historical narrative to explain market participants’ ongoing quests to expand the reach of the market and to increase the efficiency of attention harvesting operations. It will be of interest to scholars of contemporary American advertising, the history of advertising more generally, and also of economic history and theory.

When did Australian women first enter the advertising industry? The stereotypical advertising executive might be a pony-tailed, Ferrari-driving, young-ish man, but women have worked in Australian advertising agencies from the first years of the modern industry, and today they comprise half of the industry's workforce. Australian Women in Advertising in the Twentieth Century rescues these women from their obscurity. By employing a broader definition of advertising than usual, this study reveals the important role women have played in the development of the Australian advertising industry, sheds light on women's struggle to reach the higher echelons of the industry, and considers why the popular image of the advertising executive is at such variance from the reality. The experiences of these remarkable women across a century of Australian advertising provide valuable information on the role of gender in the development of this ubiquitous industry, as well as the encroachment of consumer culture.

DIVA historical study of modern German advertising, from the Imperial period through the 1970s, that explores mass consumption in modern society and the relationship between business mentalities, artistic creation, consumer behavior, and ideology. /div