We might be exposed to more ads and commercials today than ever before in human history, but the idea of advertising itself is certainly not a new concept. According to Instapage, the first signs of advertisements actually appeared in ancient Egyptian steel carvings from 2000 BC. Meanwhile, the first printed ad was published in 1472, when William Caxton decided to advertise a book by posting flyers on church doors in England.
Since its formation in 1896, the advertising industry has come a long way. Thousands of agencies - many of them clustered in New York City - now have locations across the globe, specializing in everything from virtual reality to influencer marketing. Big brands that once dominated the 20th century with mega budget radio, newspaper, poster and TV campaigns have changed course as consumer preferences shift; online is evolving with the likes of Airbnb, Amazon, Netflix and Uber altering much of modern existence.
Welcome to the era where advertising grew a soul and started talking back. In the early 1960s, the industry underwent a massive transformation that moved away from dry product specifications toward something much more psychological and artistic. We transitioned from a world where ads looked like instruction manuals to a vibrant landscape where they felt like a conversation with a clever, funny friend.
But let's drop the nostalgia and remember that this is a masterclass in what creativity really looks like across eras, categories and styles. Including what it looks like in the modern day. Yes, the tools have changed. The targeting is tighter. The media landscape's a multiverse now. But the principles that made Hovis timeless in 1973 still apply in 2025.
It was the ideal duration for those watching at home (mainly women) to become familiar with a product and (hopefully) become convinced of its benefits. Sixty seconds was chopped to thirty in the 1970s - not because of changing attention spans, but because of cigarettes. To make up for revenue losses following the ban on cigarette adverts, television networks started shaving down ad lengths, and this shaving continued into the 1980s, when 15-second commercials were introduced.