"As a profession, advertising is young" says an American writer, "As a force it is as old as the world" Discuss
It is a truism to say that advertising is a veritable force today and no product, however good it may be, can hope to succeed unless through the medium of advertisement. It cannot be gainsaid that man is more led by the advertisements in choosing his requirements whether it is a tooth paste or a fridge or a TV set. The advertisement meets him in many forms and the mass media is fully utilized for the purpose. A sizable percentage of the value of the world's commerce is spent on advertisement.
Advertisement takes many forms. There are a hundred and one ways in which a product may be advertised. It may be through the newspaper where in many thoughtful and suggestive ways advertisement is inserted. In fact no modern newspaper can survive but for the pages and pages of advertisements. In some countries they widely make use of posters, especially the cinema trade. There are the Radio and the TV advertisements and these have become very popular especially with the younger generation. Then there are the mementos and presentation articles.
Since advertisement has become a powerful media it has come to be specialized. It is being studied as a science and degrees and diplomas are being conferred by universities. There are advertising firms of national and international reputation who see to it that beautiful advertisements are made about products. They make the write-ups, create pictures, and coin ear-catching slogans to popularize a product. A good lot of psychology goes into it. So as a profession, it is becoming more and more scientific.
It gives employment opportunities to different types of talented persons. Photographers, graphic artists, writers and even poets find a job. Where the rich patronage has failed, perhaps the advertisement trade does it in that it could employ many types of artists. Naturally any person or company who wants to launch or introduce a new product sets apart a sizable amount of money for advertisement. They have to be advertising lest the public should forget. Thus products which have already made a name are being continuously advertised; for example 'HORLICKS' is being advertised in season and out of season though it has become almost a household name for a homely drink.
But the question is whether advertising it old or recent. The answer is an emphatic 'no'. Let us try to answer this question. If the spirit of advertisement is to attract and draw the attention of others as the quotation says, it is as old as the world itself. Then nature herself provides ample examples both in the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom alike.
Take the case of the color and smell of flowers. Some flowers are beautifully colored and still others are white. The colored ones easily attract the insects and the bees. The latter make them their homes for the sheer beauty of them and also for the sake of the honey. The poets have gone so far to say these insects make the flowers their beds. The smell again attracts the birds and insects. Most of the night flowers are white and sweet smelling. The white color and the smell easily show the location of the flower. This is the the mutual advertisement of the flower and the insect in that, the former is helped in pollination and the latter gets the honey as a wage.
Among animals, we find birds and animals are colored and so attractive. These colors help them in mating and choosing their partners. The love dance of the bee is well known. The male of most of the animal species is more attractive than the female. It is true of the cock, the peacock, the lion, the tiger, the bull and so on. Perhaps man has got a different opinion about himself. The colors and the attractive appearance help the male of the species to conquer his mate. Sometimes the color of the animal is a warning as in the case of poisonous creatures.
The color and smell of a fruit is a sure way of advertising their presence to man and animals to get at them. Can anybody avoid the smell of a mango or a jackfruit ? So we see the whole world has a way of advertising itself. So we feel advertisement is a way of life, though the modem man has developed and built it on a Scientific basis. What the temple fair or carnival did in olden days, the modem advertisement does today.
truism a statement which is so obviously true that it is almost not worth saying
momentos an object that you keep to remember a person, place or event
lest in order to prevent any possibility that something will happen
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