Now and Then: Advertising Lessons from 1933

In the May 3, 1933 issue of the Boston Daily Record, the Honorable Samuel Untermeyer was warning against the “blind bigotry and fanaticism of the Hitler platform,” lamb chops were selling for 19c a pound and police were hot on the heels of the Purple Gang.

A quick glance at the Record tells you a lot about the U.S. in the depths of the Great Depression. But if you look more closely, it also holds a few fundamental lessons in advertising. So without further ado, let’s take a step back into the world of laxatives and love charms.

(Click on the pictures to enlarge.)

LESSON #1: ANY THOUGHT OF SEX SELLS

Birds do, bees do it, even antiquated fleas do it – yes, sexual attraction is one of the oldest tricks in the advertising book.

• Women do it too. Check out how perfume ads (new and old) tap into the Darwinian desire for a mate:

NOW AND THEN

LESSON #2: ADD EXTRA VALUE

Providing value-added content is an underlying tenet of online marketing. A blog, white papers, recipes, video tips – anything that might help the customer.

• But you may be surprised to learn that this tactic isn’t an invention of the 21st century:

NOW AND THEN:

LESSON #3: THROW IN A FREEBIE

Ah, furniture stores. It’s reassuring to see that some things never change.

• Morgan’s may not have had an IMAX theater, but it knew the value of throwing in a free item to boost sales:

NOW AND THEN

LESSON #4: CREATE URGENCY

Special events do more than showcase your brand to the public. They create a sense of urgency for buyers – if they don’t act now, they might miss out.

• Don’t believe me? Ask the thrift-wise ladies who saved big on a Monday:

NOW AND THEN

LESSON #5: HIT THE PAIN POINTS

People are suffering out there and it’s our job as advertisers to offer solutions.

• Pity the 1933 woman. She’s spent a fortune on laxatives with no results. But Fleischmann’s Yeast will soon set her right:

NOW AND THEN

LESSON #6: WORK IS A 4-LETTER WORD

If ads did what they promised – “this product will make things easier, faster, cheaper…” – we’d be the laziest people on the planet.

• Not that you can blame the marketers. When it comes to the human psyche, work is the dirtiest word of all:

NOW AND THEN

THINKING FORWARD TO THE FUTURE?

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Tagged: 1930s ads, advertising lessons, boston daily record, history of advertising

Posted in: Copywriting Tips, Marketing Content