In thinking about how effective current health communications are today, I began to look for material on what was produced in the past. Of course it makes sense that many ads focused on improving or influencing health behavior were products of the relevant issues of that era, such as smoking, sexually transmitted diseases and erm, looking great.
I decided to peruse Flickr for some images and these are a few ads I came up with and wanted to share with you. Take a moment to look at everything each ad has to offer and then think about why it would be effective for people in that day. Is it the design aspect? the people depicted in the ad?
Interesting how this last ad causes you to think about war time bombings with the image of a fly spreading disease. Perfect example of how events of that day were used to influence thinking related to health.
Part 2 of the Evolution of Health Ads and Communications will feature more updated campaigns and commentary on what has changed and what works today.
A special thanks to those on Flickr who contributed to the images (in order of appearance): mtl_shag, Jasperdo, Averyl, Peter Berre, Gato_Negro_9, Nike6, Amphalon and PingNews
Comments
ooo…what a great topic! There’s so much to discover and different directions to take it. I look forward to being in touch. A classic one is I think the lucky strike cigarettes aimed towards women, Marlboro man, or the one with Santa smoking and the tag lines for these. A classic copywriter would be best to talk to probably, I had a professor at Mizzou who was great at recalling any ad you named due to his experience.
Also, what’s interesting, is how the regulation of advertising has changed. And even in other mediums that are influencers, like films. No actors really smoke in films anymore.
Anywho, great topic choice and look forward to the rest! =)
I love seeing old ads and it’s even more interesting to see old ads oriented for health communication. I like how the Viceroy cigarette ad highlights how the cost of changing to their cigarettes is so low but maximize the benefits. I have to say my favorite is the beer ad which touts the nutritional benefits of their brand. Today’s alcohol ads are focus on glorifying a certain lifestyle rather than pragmatic concerns like nutritional content. Can’t wait to see the rest of the series!
Always fun but also very important to watch our history. Place the things we do now in perspective.
- Many ads from the past tell us how healthy the products are. Nowadays ads tell us about dangers
- What a enormous amount of copy they needed.
@Alex: That’s a great idea to find a copywriter to chat about classic ads - I remember growing up with Camel cigarette commercials and having the plug pulled on Joe Camel because it was a “cartoon” character.
@Vanessa: Thanks for stopping by! That is a great point about the lifestyle vs nutritional content - do you think nutrition was more important back then?
@Marc: Always a pleasure to have you drop by! You’re right about watching our history, learning from mistakes (or victories) is important in moving forward with new and effective innovations.
Hey Andre! I have been meaning to ping you. (We met at Blog Potomac and of course I found your card at the bottom of my purse. I guess that only happens to women…:-)
I was at the Clarendon market last weekend and saw a great old poster — for Marlboros, I think– bragging that more Dr’s smoked Marbs than any other brand. Doctor endorsed. I loved it.
best,
sdm
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