Brought to You by – Postwar Television Advertising and the American Dream

Citation

Parsons, A.L. (2003), "Brought to You by – Postwar Television Advertising and the American Dream", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 170-171. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm.2003.20.2.170.1

This book offers a unique discussion of how television advertising influenced the American post‐war consumer culture and how television and advertising became an integral part of everyday American life. Some topics discussed in the text include the role of sponsors in creating ads and television content, advertising to children, celebrity advertising, advertising research methods, cross‐cultural comparisons, the role of advertising in shaping American culture, advertising production developments, puffery, the rise in television advertising spending from 1940 to 1964, the role of advertising in political campaigns, and the development of national brands through television advertising.

While production techniques and quality have greatly improved over time, it was fascinating to see that many of the issues television advertisers faced in the early days are still relevant and debated today. For example, advertisers have often been criticized for the way they market to children, falsely presenting products and using celebrities to pitch products that the stars might not even use themselves. Other issues such as what types of appeals to use and how much to allocate to television advertising budgets are also presented.

Many criticisms related to these areas and others are presented in the book, and they provide the reader with a historical perspective on some controversial advertising issues and practices that will help them to better understand the nature of these important advertising issues.

While today’s television market seems to be overburdened with sponsorships, as seemingly every sporting and cultural event is being named for sponsors, the book’s detailed description of the development of the sponsorship system would suggest that the power of today’s sponsors pales in comparison to the control sponsors had in the post‐war years. The discussion detailing the rise and fall of the television sponsor system that led to the emergence of more control by the networks is very interesting and informative.

Lawrence Samuel does an effective job of linking the emergence of television and television advertising to the creation of the post‐war US consumer culture. He shows how advertising encouraged Americans to want things they might or might not have really needed.

Samuel also elaborates on how advertising helped to promote attitudes toward consumption, “commercial television urged, cajoled and enticed viewers to keep with the Joneses and improved their standard of living” (p. 88). He presents statistics on the growth of national brands in the post‐war years that suggest that television advertising played a pivotal role in the success of the brands. Samuel also details how advertisers realized the power of the television medium and how they would do whatever they could to pitch their products regardless of the ethics of their techniques.

Samuel also discusses how sales of television sets helped advertisers reach a larger audience and, thus, television advertisers were able to exert a greater influence on American culture than print and radio advertisers before the arrival of television. “The sheer reach of television was enough to convince advertisers that God must also be a capitalist” (p. xv). Television was new and novel, and this helped advertisers to attract and keep the attention of a wide range of viewers in multiple markets.

It is important to note, however, that all the reviews of early advertising were not always glowing, and even in its infancy, advertising was often criticized. The book presents many key criticisms related to the growth and role of television advertising in US society.

The book shows how much television advertising changed from the mid‐1940s to the mid‐1960s, and illustrates how powerful US television and, ultimately, advertising became in our society. Brought to You By is organized chronologically. The chapter titles are: “The precocious prodigy 1946‐1952”; “Shower of stars 1953‐1955”; “The spark plug of prosperity 1956‐1958”; “A mist settling on our pond 1959‐1960”; “Think young 1961‐1962”; and “The psychic air we breathe 1963‐1964”.

It may have been more effective to organize the book by themes rather than just chronologically, as some material seemed repetitive. Organization by themes would also help the reader to get a clearer picture of how each important issue helped influence the way advertising developed in this country.

This book would be helpful for students wanting to pursue careers in advertising or communication‐related fields, advertising or communication professionals who wish to gain a historical perspective on their craft, and those who teach advertising, marketing, or mass communication. At times the book was a bit technical, especially when discussing advertising research techniques, making the book less appealing to a general audience. However, Brought to You By is well researched and includes extensive quotes from industry sources, and it shares interesting anecdotes about the early days of television advertising. I believe that anyone who has an interest in understanding the development of television advertising and the role it played in creating a consumer‐driven culture in the USA would find this book interesting.