Introduction.

Advertising activities originated at the dawn of human civilization through various stages of evolution and cultural development. The word “advertisement” derived from the Latin “reclamare” – to cry. The institution of heralds was recorded at the national level for a long time. Post heralds were mentioned in the XIV century BC. They were used for daily informing citizens of an ancient town. They reported various information to inhabitants, such as military victories, arrivals of tsars and celebrities, regular distributions of food, court sentences and executions, etc. Modern researchers considered the text engraved in stone and found in the ruins of Memphis one of the oldest examples of advertising: “I, Reno from the Island of Crete, by the grace of Gods, interpreter of dreams”. As oral skills developed before oral and writing ones, it is only natural that the earliest advertising medium was the spoken word. There are evidences that criers and hawkers were shouting their wares as far back as the days of the early Greeks, Romans and Phoenicians. This primitive advertising, refined over the centuries, has been carried down to the present day. Although hawkers do not often roam the streets with their cries, they have entered the homes to make their pleas by means of radio and television. Before long, competition and the need for identification necessitated specific signs. Used for identifying shops, such appropriate illustrations as a goat (for dairy products) or a mule driving a mill (for bakery) were unearthed in the ruins of Pompeii. At the door of a schoolmaster there was a sign depicting a boy receiving whipping! There are also evidences of announcements painted on walls during that period. Those included notices for theatrical performances, sports and gladiatorial fights, advertisements of houses for rent and appeals to visit local taverns. Perhaps the first written advertisement, however, was that three-thousand-year-old one inscribed on papyrus and found by the archaeologist in the ruins of Thebes: ”The man-slave, Shem, having run away from his good master, Hapu the Weaver, all good citizens of Thebes are enjoyed to help return him. He is Hittite, 5`2`` tall, of ruddy complexion and brown eyes. For news of his whereabouts, half a gold coin is offered. And for his return to the shop of Hapu the Weaver, where the best cloth is woven to your desires, a whole gold coin is offered”.

There is no doubt that advertising flourished at this period, but the fall of the Roman Empire and the onset of the Dark (Middle) Ages, advertising temporarily declined in importance concerning the Western civilization.

Perhaps the oldest relic of advertising among English-speaking people is family names referring to the various specialized crafts. The earliest of these designations was Smith. Names like Miller, Weaver, Wright, Tailor and Carpenter were the earliest means of product identification – the forerunner of the brand name so essential to modern advertising.

One of the most significant events in the development of advertising was the invention of a system of casting movable type by the German, Johann Gutenberg, in 1438. Paper had been invented more than a thousand years earlier by the Chinese and then transported to Europe by the Turks in the XII AD. Now all the necessary components were available for mass printing. At the same time, literacy was increasing. William Caxton, an early English printer, made up advertising history in 1478 when he printed a handbill now regarded as the first known printed English advertisement. It advertised the book he had printed before, “Salisburi Pye”, - the rules for the clergy at Easter. The advertisement read: “If it please ony man spiritual or bye ony pyes of two and thre comemoracios of Salisburi use enpryntid after the forme of this present lettre whiche ben wel and truly correct, late hym come to Westmonester in to the almonestrye at the reed pale and he shal have them good chepe. SUPPLICO STET CEDULA”. The Latin phrase at the end is translated as “Let This Notice Stand”.

Advertising is enormously popular nowadays. In part, advertising is aimed at conveying information to potential customers and clients, but it is also used to persuade public to buy goods and services. The main purpose of advertising is to sell products or ideas by presenting its message so well that the customer will buy the product or accept the idea presented. This is the area in which advertising is often criticized. Advertisements are sometimes misleading. Although it is illegal for advertisers to make untrue statements about their goods, services or prices, they still make their wares seem unduly attractive. They pander to our egos and our vanities. They create a demand which would not otherwise exist.

It is easy to say that we are not influenced by the adverts. Everyone is influenced to a certain extent. There was recently some research on subliminal advertising. The word “coffee” was flashed on the TV screen. It happened so quickly that none was aware it had happened. For just a fraction of a second it registered on the viewers` subconscious. The result? A surprising number of people chose to make coffee at that precise moment. Of course, it could have been a coincidence but it was highly unlikely.

Yet, for the typical manufacturer advertising is a form of insurance. The nature and extent of consumers` needs have to be constantly assessed. If the needs are overestimated, it is possible, through advertising, to soak up the surplus goods which have been produced. As a demand for a product sag it can be stimulated. There are all sorts of useful by-products. Without the possibility of advertising labour forces would have to be laid off when sales fell. The warehouses would become overfilled and the stocks would deteriorate, perhaps even become obsolete.

An alternative to advertising would be lower prices when sales fall. This would suit the purchasers but introduce an element of uncertainty for the manufacturers. They are always concerned to ensure that their revenues exceed their costs, and where would they be if there were daily fluctuations in the prices of their products?

Advertising goes far beyond television and hoardings, newspapers and magazines. A manager of a clothes store is advertising his goods by putting models wearing the store’s clothes in the window. A bicycle manufacturer is advertising when he posts a new price-list to his retailers. How could trading be carried on without such devices?

Some would even go so far as to say that advertising actually enriches our lives. Commercial TV is able to provide us with free programmes thanks to its advertising revenues. National newspapers derive much of their revenues from advertising. Look at a typical newspaper and you will discover the proportion of the pages devoted to advertisements. Advertisers should also be thanked for the free colour supplements accompanying Sunday newspapers.

Answer the questions;

1. How is the Latin word “reclamare” translated?

2. What were heralds used for?

3. What were criers and hawkers doing in the streets of old towns?

4. Did advertising flourish in Old Greece and Rome?

5. Which is the oldest relic of advertising among English-speaking people?

6. What did Johann Gutenberg invent in 1438?

7. What is the main aim of advertising?

8. All of us are influenced by the adverts, aren’t we?

9. What is advertising for the typical manufacturer?

10. Does advertising go far beyond TV and other ads? Give examples.