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First newspaper ad
The first newspaper ad was published about a house for sale in the Boston Newsletter. -
Advertising tradition began
Benjamin Franklin began the advertising tradition in America. His Philadelphia Gazette had a full page of advertisements. -
New York Sun
The first successful "penny newspaper" founded by Benjamin Day revolutionized distribution by selling lots of 100 to boys to sell on the street. -
First Advertising Agency
Volley Palmer was the first true ad agency man. He was in charge of brokering space for advertising rather than for the actual creation of the ads. -
Convention of advertising agents
The convention of advertising agents in New York occurred in 1873. A few years later, James Walter Thompson created the position of "account executive" for himself and went into the business of general magazine advertising. -
First full-time retail advertising copywriter.
Department store founder John Wanamaker became the first retailer to hire a full-time advertising copywriter. -
First "big budget client"
A client spent $11,000 to advertise soap, a major product in America. -
First registered trademark
A cola company bookkeeper named Frank Robinson came up with the original first trademark for the brand. -
"Business Getting" Department
N.W. Ayer began a marketing department in their agency based on the needs of clients. -
Million dollar investment
The first million dollar advertising client, The W.K. Kellogg company broke the million dollar barrier to promote its cereal products. -
National Outdoor Advertising Bureau
Outdoor billboard ads were mostly under the control of a group of representatives from many different agencies that formed a new entity. -
Sponsored radio show
The first sponsored radio show aired, inspiring an age of radio advertising. -
Stock market crash
The advertising revenue plummeted from a high of $3.5 billion. -
$100 million dollars in ads
The most financially successful magazine in the country published over 100 million dollars in ads. -
Advertising media changed
Radio surpassed magazines as the dominant form of advertising. -
First TV broadcast ad
7500televisions in New York were tuned in to see an ad of a watch ticking for 60 seconds. -
TV makes history
Color came into the picture, enticing everyone to have a color television. -
Mary Wells
Mary Wells became the first woman to head a major ad agency. -
Cigarette ads
Congress banned cigarette advertising via broadcast media. -
Music TV
A new style of TV tried to emulate the music videos that young people were coming to expect. -
The internet
Over 5 million people worldwide got internet, popularizing pop up ads. -
Regulating internet advertising
Regulations were placed as billings for internet advertising neared the $3 billion mark. -
Advertising now
Advertising product placement, virtual placement, crowdsourcing, and niche marketing are now commonly used.