BeginningsA  History  of  Creative  Advertising

Understanding:• Key  points  in  the  historical  narrative  presented.• The  contexts  (historical,  political,  economic  etc.)  in  which  modern  

advertising  emerged  (internationally).  • Aspects  of  advertising  strategy.• This  narrative  linked  to  Creative  Advertising  &  New  Media

The  plot• Traces  how  large-­‐scale  colour  printing  technology  developed  19c• Led  to  the  soap  ads  for  Lever  Brothers• Ads  and  the  strategies  initiated  by  Lever  point  towards  creative  

advertising  giants,  Bernbach  (DDB)  and  Hegarty  (BBH).    

Theme• Integration  of  art  &  technology• ‘an  area  of  art  history  neglected  …  where  art  and  technology  meet’  (Elton,  

1968,  pvii)

The  beginning  by  Wight• Advertising,  The  Most  Fun  You  Can  Have  With  Your  Clothes  On!  (R4,  

2009)• Robin  Wight  (WCRS)118  118  &  The  future’s  bright,  the  future’s  orange.• William  Hesketh  Lever,  (1851-­‐1925)  Lever  Bros• Bill  Bernbach  (1911-­‐1982)  (DDB)  ]irst  to  combine  copywriters  and  art  

directors

Sunlight  Vision

Sunlight,  Lux  to  Lynx• Lever  Brothers  founders  James  Darcy  &  William  Hesketh  Lever  (1885).• Today  Unilever,  900  brands  Ben  &  Jerry’s,  Bertoli,  Bird’s  Eye,  Brooke  

Bond,  Comfort  ,  Lux,  Persil,  Sunsilk,  Sunlight,  Surf,  Dove.• Ubiquitous  brand,  part  of  the  average  consumers  ‘mental  

furniture’  (Lewis,  p57)• Most  expensive  real  estate  is  the  corners  of  somebody's  mind  (Hegarty,  

2009)

First  British  Tycoon

To  build  a  gallery  and  open  it  up  for  the  public.  Port  Sunlight  19c  village  commissioned  by  William  Hesketh  Lever  to  house  his  soap  factory  workers.  Centre;  Lady  Lever.    

Lever  born  1851

George  Cruikshank  (Etching)  All  the  World  Going  to  See  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851.  

1851  Great  Exhibition

‘Colour  printing  on  a  larger  scale  was  not  practiced  until  well  into  the  nineteenth  century…with  the  publications  generated  by  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851’  (Elton,  1968,  p70)Photos  &  3D  technology

Advertising  an  essential'An  essential  component  of  any  competitive  market  economy:  driving  growth  and  dynamism'  (Hegarty,  2011,  p7)

The  Empire

Pre-­‐packaging  (Lewis,  2008)• 1860s  cereal  companies  ]igured  out  how  to  print,  fold  &  ]ill  cardboard  

boxes  mechanically.• John  &  William  Kellogg

• Soap  was  sold  in  long  bars  to  grocers,  who    stamped  (with  stamp  of    maker)  and  sliced  up.

The  Qirst  tablet  of  soap• ‘I  was  the  ]irst  to  advertise  extensively  [and  pre-­‐package]  a  tablet  of  

soap...the  result  was  I  lifted  Sunlight  soap  to  a  class  by  itself’  (Lever  in  Lewis,  2008,  p62)

• Added  brand  value  through  advertising.

Advertising  Boom• Advertising  aided  by  tax  cuts  on  newspapers  1855  &  paper  in  1861• Press  (newspapers)  owes  much  to  advertising.  Interdependent  • News  Of  The  World  ended  when  advertisers  pulled.

Printing  Boom• Technological  progress  reproduction  &  colour  printing,  pictorial  ads  in  

magazines  1880s• 1890s  technology  enabled  contemporary  paintings  to  be  reproduced• Sunlight  Soap  Ad  (1890s)  www.advertisingarchives.co.uk

Lever’s  context…• (b1851)  Height  of  the  Empire.  International  trade  routes  established  • International  exhibition.  Prompted  large-­‐scale  colour  printing.• Ad  boom  fuelled  by  tax  reliefs  in  1850s  &  60s.• Pre-­‐packaging  technology  1860s• Co.  founder  Lever  Bros  1885.• 1880s  colour  images  and  reproductions  in  magazines.• 1890s  reproduction  of  paintings  possible.

Lord  Leverhulme  (1920)    Augustus  John,  Oil  on  canvas,  Lady  Lever  Gallery  

First  Multinational• Advertising  transformed  company  from  a  local  soap  manufacturer  in  

1885  to  one  of  the  world's  ]irst  multinationals  • Largest  corporation  in  Britain  by  1930.• Unilever

‘Colourful,  innovative  advertising  was  crucial  to  Lever’s  success’  (Port  Sunlight  Museum,  2009)  

Contemporary  art

• The  soap  men’s  extensive  use  of  contemporary  paintings  in  their  advertising  (Lewis,  2008,  p65)

• Used  in  Sunlight  soap  ad  with  copy  ‘So  Clean’• Copyright  (Lever)• White  linen  (sign)• Child  (sign)

The  New  Frock  (1889)  William  Powell  Frith,  Lady  Lever  Gallery

Alice  in  Wonderland• Exhibition  Tate  Liverpool  Nov  2011  -­‐  29  Jan  2012• Infant  mortality  rate  high• Children  popular  subject• Paintings  &  photography• Signi]ied  joy,  blessings,  purity,  innocence  and  life.  

Alice  Pleasance  Liddell  summer  1858  Wet  Collodian  glass-­‐plate  negative  15.2  x  12.7  cm.  Photographer  Charles  Dodgson  (Lewis  Carroll)

Start  of  exhibition

George  Dunlop  Leslie  Alice  in  Wonderland  1879

As  good  as  new  -­‐  emotiveBride  (peasant)  trying  wedding  dress.Leverhulme  used  for  an  advertisement  poster  1889,  As  good  as  newImplies  dress  worn  by  brides  mother,  passing  down  beauty  secrets.Emotional  strategy  enhanced  by  naturalism  of  Newlyn  school  (Cornwall)

A  Dress  Rehearsal  (1888)    Albert  Chevallier  Tayler

First  Creative  Advertising• Selecting  and  presenting  contemporary  art  works  (RA)  communicated  

more  powerfully  a  desired  message.  • Message  was  told  in  an  interesting  and  innovative  way.• Imagery  provided  a  spectacle  and  entertainment.• By  adding  simple  endlines,  Lever  managed  to  change  the  meaning  of  

images  to  his  advantage.• Distinct  from  other  advertising  that  had  gone  before.  • Encouraged  consumers  to  collect  vouchers  and  save  for  prints  of  the  ads.  

Distinct  from  other  ads

Briggate,  Leeds  (1900)  Photographer  unknown  Brears  (1992)  

Entertainment• ‘One  of  our  clients  is  Unilever  who  produce  Axe,  a  product  targeted  at  

young  males…The  brand  is  about  con]idence  –  the  one  ingredient  most  teenagers  need  help  with’  (Hegarty,  2011)

• http://youtu.be/kFsEx8uSCU8  • Online  game  and  real-­‐time  novel  • BBH  (Unilever  accounts)

‘Advertising,  from  the  moment  it  was  born,  was  trying  to  entertain  us’  (Hegarty,  2011,  p9)

The  First  Creative  Agencies• Industry  context:• Cracknell  (2011)  late  19c  ad  agencies  sold  space  in  newspapers  

commission/negotiations.• Client  created  content.  Changed  with  publications  (US)  Rowell  American  

Newspaper  dictionary  (UK)  followed–  ]ixed  rates  to  clients.• Agencies  offered  creative  services  20c  (21st  crowd)

First  global  campaigns• Medicine,  chocolate  and  soap  manufacturers  were  among  the  foremost  

advertisers  (Lewis,  2008,  p65)• Sunlight  Soap  among  the  ]irst  products  to  feature  in  a  global  ad  campaign.    

Product  placement  soap  replace  clock  &  cup  brand  loyalty

The  Wedding  Morning  (1892)  John  Henry  Frederick  Bacon.Leverhulme  bought  painting  from  the  1892  Royal  Academy,  speci]ically  for  use  as  an  advertisement  for  Sunlight  Soap.      

Innovative  events• Lever  Bros.  Switzerland  F.  H.  Lavanchy  -­‐Clarke  • Opening  of  new  of]ices,  organised  a  washing  competition  Lake  Geneva,

1889.  • 2  x  steamers,  washer  women,  sunlight  soap,  large  crowds  and  a  banquet.  

The  Queen  of  soaps• Royal  endorsement  from  1892  ‘soap  makers  to  Queen  Vic.• Democratisation• ‘Queens  will  have  only  the  best…sunlight  soap  is  so  cheap,  everybody  can  

afford  to  use  it’  [copy].

Wrapper  promos• 1890s  Sunlight  soap  magazine  ad  www.advertisingarchives.co.uk• 1903  began  a  wrapper  scheme,  offering  soap  in  return• 1904  offer  a  gramophone  +  records  for  750  wrappers  &  rolled  gold  watch  

for  4,000  (Port  Sunlight  Museum,  2009)  

Capture  the  children• One  method  beloved  of  advertisers  ...was  to  capture  the  children.  In  

1890s,  purchases  of  sunlight  soap  received  free  paper  dolls  with  interchangeable  out]its’  (Lewis,  2008,  p67)

• Schemes  for  Lifebuoy  soap  coupons  for  encyclopaedias.

Target  mothers

• Directed  at  mothers  ensuring  a  lifetime  of  brand  loyalty• Associations

Investing  in  Advertising• Lever  spent  £2m  ]irst  two  decades  of  making  soap.• 1899  Lever  purchased  a  Philadelphia  soap  ]irm  –  owner  Sidney  Gross  

became  a  director.• ‘Gross  was  expert  at  picking  the  right  artist  for  advertisements’  (Lewis,  

2008,p69)

Art  Direction• Gross  suggested  plantol  should  depict  tropical  climates  &  express  the  care  

that  is  exercised  in  re]ining  oils.  Lewis  (2008)• A  vision  to  disguise  slavery?• Palm  oil  was  one  of  the  main  ingredients  (pure  vegetable  soap).  

First  Worldwide  ECD• Collaborative  creativity• Lever  employed    (international)  expertise• Overseer  of  advertising• Constantly  researching  &  studying  the  art  form• Sent  examples  of  (American)  adverts  across  the  company  (colour  

magazine)  creating  discussion.• Journals,  web  blogs  &  Cop

First  ambient• Innovative  spaces,  doors  left  open  at  stations.• Choosey,  where  advertised,  avoided  left-­‐wing  newspapers,• ‘]irm  known  by...quality  of  medium  in  which  it  advertises’  (Lewis,  2008,  

p71)

Ad  Expertise• Lever  amassed  and  was  among  innovators  of  advertising  expertise• Advocated  truth  in  advertising  is  an  asset;  falsehood  in  advertising  is  a  

liability.  Lewis  (2008)• (Hegarty,  2009)

Salvation  with  Sunlight• Many  of  his  early  ads  emphasised  that  Sunlight  soap  would  save  women  

from  drudgery'  (Lewis,  2008,  p74)• Answer:  washing  day  toil,  solution;  Sunlight  soap.• Copy:  a  girl  of  12  or  13  can  do  a  large  wash  without  being  tired.• Ease  a  repeated  theme

Targeting  audiences• Copy  in  Sunlight  soap  ads  spoke  directly  to  working-­‐class  housewives.• Salvation  of  Sunlight,  improves  their  life,  leaving  quality-­‐time  for  

romance.  • Sunlight  Almanac  (annually)  1895-­‐1900)• Woman’s  World  470p  illustrated  book• High-­‐feeling/emotive  strategy• Lewis  (2008)

Examples  1893  ad  copy• Illustrated  Sporting  and  Dramatic  News• “home  is  to  be  the  very  dearest  spot  on  earth,  if  the  mother  or  wife  

brightens  it  with  the  sunlight  of  her  cheerful  smile…when  things  go  right  in  the  kitchen  and  laundry…the  good  housewife’s  face  is  lit  up”  (Lewis,  2008,  p77)  

• ‘Another  talked  of  a  mother’s  special  responsibilities  in  the  transmission  of  knowledge  to  her  daughter…before  her  daughter  is  about…  to  be  married’

• (Lewis,  2008,  p77)World  domination

• 20c  Lever  used  different  international  agencies.• Domestic  and  imperial  markets  Britishness  suited  all.• Royal,  national  and  imperial  imagery  • Context  of  thousands  of  ads  trading  on  Britannia,  Where  the  British  ]lag  

]lies,  Dunlop  Tyres  are  paramount’(1902)  (Lewis,  2008,  p78)

Imperial  Mission  (Lewis)• To  civilize• No  commodity  aided  more  this  than  soap.• Wash  and  clothe  the  native  and  cleanse  the  great  unwashed  of  British  

working  classes.• In  Britain  advertising  posters,  packaging  brought  to  a  wide  audience  the  

notion  of  imperialism  as  benign    (Lewis,  2008,  p79)• Empire  was  celebrated  on  biscuits,  cigarettes,  soap,  chocolate:  part  of  the  

working  class  fabric.

The  successful  global  campaign• Lever’s  achievement• ‘to  convince  people  all  over  the  world  that  they  did  not  just  want  this  

product,  they  needed  it’  (Port  Sunlight  Museum,  2009).

How?• Victorians  conquered  the  world  &  problem  of  corporeal  aromas.• Sanitary  achievements  drains,  sewage  &  soap.• Advertisers  made  it  their  business  to  persuade    consumers  of  their  

hygiene  problems.

The  Lynx  effect• “The  message  was  clear,  if  one  wished  to  gain  or  retain  a  partner,  a  job,  a  

reputation  and  self  esteem,  one  needed  to  attend  to  personal  hygiene…sales  skyrocketed”  (Lewis,  2008,  p81)

• High-­‐feeling  strategy

Psychology  of  Advertising• Advertisers,  more  than  any  other  group  of  people,  made  hay  with  new  

understandings  of  human  psychology  in  the  twentieth  century  (Lewis,  2008,  p81)

• The  Psychology  of  Advertising  (1908)  US,  Walter  Dill  Scott• Edward  Berneys,  nephew  of  Freud  Propaganda  (1928)• Discrepancy  theory  –  widespread  

Discrepancy  theory• Discrepancy  between  self  &  ideal  image  of  self.• Publics  leisure  practices,  bathing  habits  etc.  were  inferior  to  those  

depicted.• Lever  Bros  Lux  ads  by  mid  20s  said  to  preserve  ‘soft,  youthful  lovely  

feminine  hands’  +  celebrity  endorsement• ‘nine  out  of  ten  screen  stars  care  for  their  skin  with  Lux  soap’  (Lewis,  

2008)

From  a  Lux  ad  in  the  February  1925  issue  of  McCall's  magazine.

First  soap  opera• Continuing  dramas• 1930s  radio  (US)• Procter  and  Gamble  led  the  way,  sponsoring  O’Neils  with  ivory  soap.

Soap  &  aesthetics• P  &  G  promotions:  held  sculpture  event  at  gallery  for  children.• Berneys  wrote  about  it  as  a  ]ine  example,  harnessing  psychological  

motives,  aesthetic,  competitive  maternal  exhibitionist• Strategy  informed  by  sound  psychology  and  enlightened  self-­‐interest  

(Lewis,  2008,  p84)

Unilever  Series• Sponsor  annual  contemporary  artist,  Turbine  hall  Tate  Modern  • Oct  11  -­‐    March  2012• FILM  is  an  11-­‐minute  silent  35mm  ]ilm  projected  onto  a  gigantic  white  

monolith  standing  13m.  • First  work  in  series  devoted  to  the  moving  image,  and  celebrates  analogue  

]ilm-­‐making.  

Critics  of  Admass• Boom  in  consumption• Highly  criticised  in  interwar  years  • Left-­‐wing  critics  appalled  by  products  of  capitalism  and  mechanisation  • ‘People  degenerated  into  drones:  docile  bodies  or  blind  mouths  etc…

unable  to  think  beyond  free  market  capitalism’  (Lewis,  2008,  p84)  

Hausmann,  Mechanical  Head  [Spirit  of  our  age]  1920

Admass  Advocates• Economic  liberals,  celebrated  unfettered  agency  of  the  consuming  

individual.• Good  trade  relations  between  countries  reduces  con]lict.• Capitalism,  commerce  and  consumption  improves  well  being  of  

population  (Lewis,  2008).

Role  of  Advertising• Fundamentals  of  honest  business,  will  continue  to  advance  humanity  to  

brotherhood…honesty  in  advertising  …is  a  cardinal  principle  in  your  country  and  in  mine…the  advertiser…is  building  for  those  who  follow  after  him.  It  should  be  the  same  with  nations’

• Leverhulme  NY  (1923)

Summary• Narrative:  Wight  (R4)-­‐  library,    So  Clean    Lewis  (2008)  Sunlight  Vision  

and  Alice  in  Wonderland  exhibitions.  • Included  historical,  political,  economic  and  technological  contexts  which  

enabled  Lever’s  pioneering  advertising  to  emerge.  • Colour  printing  and  reproduction  technological  developments  19c• Creative  advertising  strategy,  art  and  copy• Advertising  principles  truth  and  entertainment.• The  importance  of:  advertising  to  an  economy,  soap  to  imperialism.