Menu
Idea

advertising

309
Filter by:

Filter by published date

Farm for sale in Kansas, 1938.
partner

The Early History of “Selling America to Americans”

Using film and advertising to sell capitalism and nationalism to immigrants in the early 20th century.
by Caroline Jack via HNN on November 26, 2024
A 1923 General Electric advertisement of a women standing over a light switch.

Using Women’s Suffrage to Sell Soup and Cereal

In the 1920s, advertisers tried to convince women to exercise their political power not only at the ballot box but also in the store.
by Einav Rabinovitch-Fox via The Saturday Evening Post on October 29, 2024
Star-Herb Medicines and Teas for all Diseases, 1923.

How Government Helped Birth the Advertising Industry

Advertising went from being an embarrassing activity to a legitimate part of every company’s business plans—despite scant evidence that it worked.
by Livia Gershon, Daniel Navon via JSTOR Daily on May 17, 2024
Covers from Lippincott's and Harper's from the 1890s.

Advertising as Art: How Literary Magazines Pioneered a New Kind of Graphic Design

Allison Rudnick on the rise and fall of the 19th century "Literary Poster."
by Allison Rudnick via Literary Hub on April 3, 2024
AR-15

Varmints, Soldiers and Looming Threats: See the Ads Used to Sell the AR-15

Through six decades, gunmakers and advertisers leveraged social and cultural changes to broaden the AR-15′s appeal.
by Alex Horton, Monique Woo, Tucker Harris via Washington Post on March 27, 2023
A father and son stand in front of an illustration of a circular target, while the son holds a small gun.

American as Apple Pie

How marketing made guns a fundamental element of contemporary boyhood.
by Rachael Kay Albers via JSTOR Daily on October 19, 2022
Advertisement for a gold dredging machine from a 1920's magazine.

The Huckster Ads of Early “Popular Mechanics”

Weird, revealing, and incredibly fun to read.
by Clive Thompson via Medium on August 6, 2022
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg on stage giving a presentation below a screen showing pictures of people connected by the Facebook network.

How Capitalism—Not a Few Bad Actors—Destroyed the Internet

Twenty-five years of neoliberal political economy are to blame for today's regime of surveillance advertising, and only public policy can undo it.
by Matthew Crain via Boston Review on August 3, 2022
A group of people in nice clothing gathered around John F. Kennedy to hear him speak.

How the US Government Sold the Peace Corps to the American Public

The agency's earliest ad campaigns emphasized youthful idealism, patriotism and travel opportunities.
by Wendy Melillo via The Conversation on June 10, 2020
Abortion advertisement in the National Police Gazette, 1847.

“Female Monthly Pills” and the Coded Language of Abortion Before Roe

Our future might look much like our past, with pills as a major part of abortion access—and an obsessive target for abortion opponents.
by Melissa Gira Grant via The New Republic on January 22, 2020

Mikhail Gorbachev’s Pizza Hut Thanksgiving Miracle

In 1997, the former Soviet leader needed money, and Pizza Hut needed a spokesman. Greatness ensued.
by Paul Musgrave via Foreign Policy on November 28, 2019
Ad for Betty Crocker in the Ladies' Home Journal, featuring a recipe for chiffon cake.

The Power of Corporate Interests Over Home Baking

Throughout the early 20th century, food corporations created advertisement campaigns directed at women.
by Maria Dawson via Nursing Clio on May 28, 2019

It Didn’t Start with Facebook: Surveillance and the Commercial Media

The era of audience exploitation began in earnest thanks in large part to the experiments of Dr. Frank Stanton in the 1930s.
by Michael J. Socolow via We're History on May 1, 2018
Ad for children's medicine.

How Advertising Shaped the First Opioid Epidemic

What the first opioid epidemic can teach us about the second.
by Jon Kelvey via Smithsonian on April 3, 2018

The Tiger

The story of the artist behind Exxon's famous logo.
by Nathan Stone via Not Even Past on February 21, 2018

How Wrigley Chewed Its Way to Gum Greatness

William Wrigley, Jr. started selling soap and became a prodigy of consumerism.
by Erin Blakemore, Daniel Robinson via JSTOR Daily on May 11, 2017

How Advertisers Have Used Maps to Try to Sell You Stuff

A huge collection of “persuasive maps” — newly available online — reveals how our trust in cartography can be used to sway us.
by Betsy Mason via National Geographic on May 5, 2017

The Trashy Beginnings of "Don’t Mess With Texas"

A true story of the defining phrase of the Lone Star state.
by Katie Nodjimbadem via Smithsonian on March 10, 2017

How ADHD Was Sold

A new book outlines an epidemic of over-diagnosis and addiction.
by Adam Gaffney via The New Republic on September 23, 2016

The Call of the Billboard

The roadside battle for people’s attention has been raging for more than a century.
by Erica Berry via The Atlantic on July 7, 2016
Cover of the U.S. Physical Fitness Program book, featuring silhouettes of people doing calisthenics.
partner

Run DNC, Run RNC

When the federal government began to claim a stake in the public’s physical fitness, and the origins of the Presidential Physical Fitness Test.
via BackStory on July 10, 2015

The Massive Liberal Failure on Race, Part III

The Civil Rights movement ignored one very important, very difficult question. It’s time to answer it.
by Tanner Colby via Slate on February 27, 2014
Representative Greg Casar, in front of a poster that says "Fire Elon, Save Elmo"

The Trump Administration’s Showdown with PBS and NPR

While Democrats waving a Big Bird doll around on the House floor saved public broadcast funding in the past, this strategy does not seem likely to work in 2025.
by Abby Whitaker via Clio and the Contemporary on May 1, 2025
Magazine ad of raccoons playing computer games.

The Raccoons Who Made Computer Magazine Ads Great

In the 1980s and 1990s, PC Connection built its brand on a campaign starring folksy small-town critters. They’ll still charm your socks off.
by Harry McCracken via Technologizer on April 22, 2025
Neil Postman in front of a collage of the cover of "Amusing Ourselves to Death."

The One Book That Explains Our Current Era Was Written 40 Years Ago

NYT pundits and NBA writers alike can't stop recommending this four-decade-old book.
by Laura J. Miller via Slate on March 25, 2025
Black and white photograph of the Opening of the New York City Subway, 1904.

Advertising Etiquette: On Shaping the New York City Subway

NYC subway etiquette reflects socio-economic divides.
by Simone Blandford via Journal of the History of Ideas Blog on November 21, 2024
George Gallup reenacting his polling methods on a talk show.

The Problems with Polls

Political polling’s greatest achievement is its complete co-opting of our understanding of public opinion, which we can no longer imagine without it.
by Samuel Earle via New York Review of Books on September 26, 2024
Stacks of snacks, including donuts, cookies, crackers, candy, and pretzels.

How Snacks Took Over American Life

The rhythms of our days may never be the same.
by Ellen Cushing via The Atlantic on September 6, 2024
Reddy Kilowatt mascott emerging from an outlet.

The Energy Mascot that Electrified America

An animation historian on Reddy Kilowatt, the cartoon charged with electrifying everything in the early 20th century.
by Mike Munsell, Kirsten Moana Thompson via Heatmap on August 5, 2024
Illustration of man throwing football to sports broadcaster.

Before and After the Contest: Wraparound Sportscasting Through the Ages

National Football League pre- and postgame shows have become a testing ground for novel technology in the waning days of linear television.
by Chloe Lizotte via Mubi on August 1, 2024
View More
30 of
309

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person

brought to you by
© Bunk History