To grasp the importance of advertising, we must take a journey to when it started. We must travel back to Ancient Egypt. Many sources, including testbook.com (2024), claim that the first written advert was found in Egypt around 3000 B.C. However, this wasn’t the only form of advertisement. According to Feedough.com (2024), the different forms of advertising that existed were as follows:
1) Wall or rock paintings.
2) Trademarks such as those that potters used.
3) Town criers.
4) Signboards
Ancient markets also relied on verbal advertising. They also used carved signs and flags. Can you imagine carving an ad for your business? We then take a massive leap to medieval times. In 1476 or 1477, the first printed advertisement was created by the printer William Caxton. It was a book advert and was the first for the English Language (History of Information, 2024). You can view this interesting piece here.

In the 1400s, Johannes Gutenberg invented something that changed the course of history. The Printing press. To read more about it, click here. Of course, with the rise of newspapers in the 16th and 17th centuries (marketing91, 2024), the art of advertising grew even more. Newspapers started appearing in Venice, then later spread through Europe (Feedough, 2024). With that, newspapers went over the Atlantic to North America, where the first newspaper ad was printed and distributed. On the 8th of May 1704 the Boston News-Letter printed a real estate advertisement (Feedough, 2024).

The creation of radio in the late 1800s to early 1900s was another massive achievement for humanity and advertising. Advertising uses different mediums to reach the masses. Radio was another fantastic new medium. According to Feedough.com (2024), a New York Radio Station called WEAF aired the first radio ad on the 28th of August 1922. It was disguised though! Because the government prohibited “direct selling”. So, the radio presenter H.M. Blackwell, spoke about living a good life in the Hawthorne Court Apartments in Queens for 10 minutes (Feedough, 2024). Thus, classified as direct-indirect selling. Then television came along. What another incredible medium for advertising. According to Guinness World Records’ official website, the first television ad was on the 27th of June 1941. It was a 10-second ad about the Bulova Watchmakers and aired on WNBT-TV. To check it out, click here.