Magazine + Billboard (1900-1959)
Madison Avenue is born. Coke's Santa, Volkswagen's "Think Small," Marlboro Man, Hathaway shirt eyepatch. The art-directed magazine spread becomes a discipline.
Part of Advertisements
19 moments in this segment.
- — Arrow Collar Man. 1907-1931. J.C. Leyendecker's "Arrow Collar Man" illustrations for Cluett, Peabody. The square-jawed icon received 17,000 fan letters in 1920 alone — more than Rudolph Valentino. Defined the masculine ideal of the early 20th century.
- — Morton Salt — "When It Rains It Pours". 1914. The Morton Salt Girl with her yellow dress and umbrella. The slogan "When it rains it pours" (since salt now flowed even in humid weather). Still in use 110+ years later.
- — Rodchenko + Mayakovsky — Mosselprom. 1923-1925. Alexander Rodchenko's posters for Mosselprom (Soviet food trust), Lengiz publishing, Krasnaya Zvezda cigarettes — paired with Vladimir Mayakovsky's slogans. Constructivism applied to mass advertising; predates Bauhaus poster work by 5+ years.
- — El Lissitzky — Constructivist Soviet Posters. 1929. El Lissitzky's exhibition posters + advertising work for Pelikan Ink and Soviet ministries. Diagonal compositions, photomontage, typography-as-image. Inspired most Western mid-century graphic design.
- — A.M. Cassandre — Dubonnet. 1932. A.M. Cassandre's "Dubo, Dubon, Dubonnet" poster — minimalist, geometric, sequential. The defining French Art Deco advertising masterpiece; voted greatest poster of the 20th century by AIGA.
- — Rosie the Riveter. May 1943. J. Howard Miller's "We Can Do It!" poster for Westinghouse Electric. Hung only briefly in Westinghouse factories during WWII; rediscovered in the 1980s and became the most reproduced feminist poster of the late 20th century.
- — Rosie the Riveter Wartime Industry Posters. 1942-1945. The full series of Office of War Information industry-recruitment posters (Howard Miller's "We Can Do It!" being the most famous). Defined US wartime visual mobilisation; Norman Rockwell's 1943 Rosie cover for the Saturday Evening Post is now in the Smithsonian.
- — Smokey Bear — "Only You Can Prevent...". 1944. The Smokey Bear forest-fire-prevention campaign (created by Albert Staehle for the US Forest Service + Ad Council). The longest-running PSA campaign in US history; "Only YOU can prevent forest fires" is among the most-recognised slogans ever measured.
- — Bill Bernbach Co-Founds DDB. 1949. Bill Bernbach co-founds Doyle Dane Bernbach. His creative philosophy — "advertising is fundamentally persuasion" — drove DDB to the VW Beetle, Avis "We Try Harder," and Levy's Rye Bread "You Don't Have to Be Jewish" ads. Reshaped American advertising for 30 years.
- — Hathaway Shirt Man (Eyepatch). 1951. David Ogilvy puts a black eyepatch on a model wearing a Hathaway shirt. Saved a near-bankrupt brand; ad ran in The New Yorker for 25+ years. The single most-cited Ogilvy print ad.
- — VW "Think Small". 1959. Doyle Dane Bernbach's "Think Small" ad for the Volkswagen Beetle — small product photo, generous white space, ironic self-deprecating copy. Voted Ad Age's #1 ad of the 20th century. Created the modern American advertising aesthetic.
- — Shiseido In-House Design Studio. 1923. Shiseido opens its in-house design department — first Japanese company to do so. Yoshio Hayakawa's 1950s+60s Shiseido posters defined the mature Japanese commercial-art aesthetic. Still the most-imitated cosmetics-brand visual language in Asia.
- — Marlboro Man. 1954. Leo Burnett invents the Marlboro Man — rugged cowboy — to reposition Marlboro from a women's cigarette to a men's. Within 8 months Marlboro went from <1% to 4% market share. One of the most successful brand-image pivots in history.
- — Maxwell House "Good to the Last Drop". 1907. Maxwell House Coffee's "Good to the last drop" slogan — supposedly coined by Teddy Roosevelt. Ran for 100+ years; one of the longest-running brand slogans ever.
- — Wheaties Jingle — First Singing Commercial. December 24, 1926. "Have You Tried Wheaties?" — first singing radio commercial in US history. Saved a near-bankrupt General Mills brand. Defined a century of jingle advertising.
- — Palmolive "You're Soaking In It". 1966. Palmolive dishwashing liquid's "Madge the Manicurist" ads — "You're soaking in it." Jan Miner played Madge for 25 years. One of the longest-running TV ad characters; defined daytime-soap advertising.
- — Guinness Toucan. 1935. John Gilroy's "Guinness for Strength" + the famous toucan poster — "If he can say as you can / Guinness is good for you." Most-copied UK poster campaign of the interwar years; ran for 50+ years.
- — Kewpie Mayonnaise Mascot. 1925. Kewpie launches its eponymous mayonnaise with the Kewpie doll (the actual cherubic Rose O'Neill creation, licensed). The Kewpie-doll-as-mascot became one of the most enduring Japanese brand-character icons of the 20th century.
- — Lucky Strike "Reach for a Lucky". 1929. Lucky Strike's "Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet" — explicitly targeting women dieters. Edward Bernays (Freud's nephew) ran the campaign. The launch of consumer advertising as psychological manipulation.
