History of Advertising and Public Relations

There’s a long history of advertisers and big corporations pulling April Fool’s jokes, and they continue to suck in consumers, readers, viewers, and radio listeners. To celebrate the tomfoolery, here is the Advertising channel’s top 10 April Fool’s Day pranks over the years.

If you know the name Stella Artois, you know it's a Belgian lager beer with a reputation for excellence. But do you know about the history of the campaign that made it so exclusive?

To say political ads bombard TV viewers, radio listeners, and anyone who sees a billboard would be a vast understatement. Political advertising gets bigger ever year, monetarily speaking, with an estimated $4 billion ready to be spent in the 2012 election year. But where did it stem from, and how has it changed?

You know the advertising greats, but what about the greats who didn't get as much press? Meet five men who had a huge impact on advertising.

Advertising has had a big influence on shopping habits and culture, thrusting products into our lives and creating new social norms. Some brilliant ad ideas have advanced the industry and, dare it we say it, civilization itself. Let's identify some of the great moments in advertising history...

A pioneer, entrepreneur and one of the best clients the advertising industry ever had, Steve Jobs had a career (which ended way too soon) that anyone would envy.

Harper's Weekly has compiled a database of advertisements that ran in their magazine from 1857-1872.

This site offers an encyclopedia of television as well as the history of radio. You'll even find newscasts and public programs available for viewing.

EAA is an online image database of over 9,000 advertising items and publications dating from 1850 to 1920.

Formerly the Museum of Television and Radio, this non-profit organization includes more than 150,000 programs and commercials. Search the online database for everything from comedy shows on television to your favorite old commercials.

You tried to forget about Sea Monkeys and Silly Putty. But this site has all those comic book ads in print. If only the products lasted as long.

A brief history of Howell, Henry, Chaldecott, Lury and Partners, one of the most innovative and highly-copied agencies of the 1990's.

A brief history of one of the greatest ad agencies in the world today - TBWA\Chiat\Day