For the very first time on television people were seeing images on television boxes of people who they were expected to be like. This is very true to the time with women being at home either doing the cooking or cleaning. In the very first adverts the technology used was not particular good compared to the standards of today life, which shows how modern day life has helped the technological advances though out the years. Families on the television where portrayed as outstanding citizens wearing there best clothes at dinner time with the children being courteous to what ever the parents said.
Children have always been used in adverts. Children also effect or are effected by the society and culture of the day By this, the year 2000 children are now shown as more independent, and as young adults. But does that show the society of the day.
The first thing that you will notice about the families, and more importantly, the children in the adverts of 1950 are that they are all dressed up nicely, and speak very good English, that would, nowadays, be called posh. The classic picture from the 1950s advert was that the entire family would sit down to evening meal together. Children would still be wearing what they had on for school, though the clothes would likely be as clean as they had been when they had left for school as opposed to being scruffy.
In the 1950s there were no real children in adverts aimed at children. In an advert where the advertiser wanted to use children, those children would be animated or draw as cartoon characters. This is because of the fact that the advertisers didn’t like using children due to the fact that other children might fell like they like the children on the screen and feel spiteful towards them. This in turn would cause the child not to go out and buy the product that the companies are selling. If the child is a cartoon that problem is overcome.
To add to this, you can do a lot more with cartoons than you can with real children. For example, there could be more violence. This is proven with cartoons like “Tom and Jerry”, where the producers were able to use violence a lot more, since they weren’t using real animals and no animals would get hurt.
During the 1950s, children under the age of 11 were stereotyped. There were two types of child, which were; the macho male and the maternal female
The Lego adverts of the time showed this perfectly. The boys in the advert would be building Lego cars, and trucks. However the women would be creating the little house. This is very much like the time and it wasn’t until the 1970s that women gained more independence.
As we come to the 1960s we see a new depiction of children. Then there was the mischievous little boy. This was considered to be a different type of child than those that had been previously shown (such as the stereotyped macho male). However, in that age, hose sort of children were slowly coming through and replacing the well dressed children that we had seen at the dinner table at the start of the 1950s. As television was a novelty in the 1950’ being only recently released, most people watching television felt that they should portray them selves as seen on the screen. Because of this the couture of England changed. People all felt that the people on the screen were important and the message that they were say and the actions they are doing should be remembered. Replication of these action were then passed in to modern day actives with mothers realizing that if a child was given a certain type of breakfast meal i.e. ready break then there children would not get cold even on the coldest days. These sort of adverts portrayed ideas to the people watching, changing the way they do things as well as changing the couture they live in.
Punishment was different today, and was much more severe compared to today. In an advert you would see a teacher hanging a child on a coat rack. This would cause uproar in today’s society, however at the time would have been quite normal. This type of punishment and worse was dealt out at schools throughout the country, and was used by advertisers to sell a product. This has since changed in to days society as if any thing like that had happened in to days school the teach would most probably be sacked. The society has changes as views in adverts had also changed. It was especially used because of the whole mischievous child idea that had come forward.
Around this time the next thing up from mischievous child was the gang. Advertisers were especially attracted to using the gang in their adverts because most children wanted to be in one. As you can imagine, selling a product off the back of the gang was very product full for the company. Also as the mischievous child was replaced with the gang, advertisers began to use teenagers instead of children in those adverts that previously used children and the ideas surrounding children as a way to sell their product.
As the gang idea moved forward and teenagers began being used as opposed to children the concept of popularity was used a lot more in adverts. In the mid 60s, came the first use of pop music of pop music in adverts. The gang would often be used alongside to boost popularity even more.
Towards the end of the 60s came the ‘Mods’ and ‘Rockers’. This really did reflect the society that people lived in with gangs fighting each other down at Brighton. Advertises would use the attraction of the gangs and sell products which would appeal to each other group. This was shown with the Mods wanting to be up to date on most things which were on sale i.e. music and hair cuts. These two groups represented the two types of teenager of the time and were really the next step up from the gang. Continuing the trend, popularity was becoming very much more important in the society of the day.
The TV program “Ready, Steady, Go” which was popular around that time was used to sell products. However, you will notice that at this time, the people that targeted people with ideas such as the gang and its popularity were advertising ‘Rice Crispies’. This would not have happened today because the targeted age group would have more money.
In the late 60s colour was first seen in adverts. Around this time technology was advancing and you would regularly see colour television as opposed to the black and white television programs of the past. This again changed the society that we lived in with people (the majority of who watch television) wanting to stay up to date. This need caused people not just to buy a new television because it was new, but the fact that you would be one of the only people in your street who would have not brought one. Thus leading into the fact of fitting in to social changes.
Into the 70s this trend continued but this was soon to change. There were many protests and riots against certain things happening in the country by the old range of teenagers of the time. Although the riots were not as bad in England as they were in other countries, it was still enough for the advertisers to switch back to using children calling the older teenagers drop-outs.
As children were used more in adverts, those adverts became more realistic. When children made mistakes, those mistakes would be left in, and that would be what made the adverts look realistic.
Also at this time, different accents coming through. There would be accents from Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and London, as opposed to the ‘proper’ English accents that the adverts of the 1950s had used. This in turn had also changed the society of the country. Many people felt more comfortable when having the chances to express them selves the way they felt by speaking how they wanted and style.
Coming to the end of the 70s there was a need for idealism of the family. At the time the divorce rate had been increased because of the social, moral and economical issues of the time. Because of this the idea of the mother always being at home was brought forward, and the ideas of a perfect childhood were also brought forth. The children and scenes used in these adverts would give the older audience certain ideas. For example they would remember back to their childhood. A person will almost always remember this time as a better time, whereas in fact, it might not have been. Once the advertiser has established an idea they will use it to sell the product. This help change the society by reminding the audience of times in which they thought they were having fun, and then use those ideas to sell the product they want the consumer to buy.
Social changes and through women’s rights showed in adverts the first examples of a man doing the job that is traditionally woman’s (and vice versa). She may be learning to drive for example and this is a sign of the independence that the women of that age were gaining. Towards the end of the 70s the idea of the mother staying at home idea was fast fading away. Social changes then changed due to adverts appealing to women to try some thing different and let the man of the house take care of the children.
As the 80s began, children became less vulnerable. Some will refer to this era as the era of ‘Thatcher’s Children’, Margaret Thatcher of course being the Prime Minister at the time. Margaret Thatcher started the economic boom of the country in the eighties. Younger generations found it easier to find work and the work that they found usually earned a lot of money and so come the introduction of the ‘Yuppies’. These were the members of the younger generation who had more money than previously and so could spend it elsewhere. This was what changed advertising for the younger generation. Previously, as I mentioned earlier, the advertising for the younger generation was for things like food, which of course they wouldn’t buy, the mother or father would. Yuppies brought more money with advertisers targeting them for leisure products or new technology. Because of advertising techniques to sell products caused a cultural change with prices of products also rising to astronomical charges to try to get as much money from these people as possible.
Pester power was also used during this time. Pester power is the way that an advert will get a child to keep asking their parents for a certain product thereby increasing the amount brought of a specific product. This alongside the Yuppie opened up whole new areas that would need to be marketed.
This time also began the first sophisticated use of blending live action and animation in an advert. Though the techniques had been used before in other adverts this was the first sophisticated use of the techniques in adverts. This, no doubt, had something to do with the economic boom of the time.
In the mid 80s, street credibility started becoming very important. Adverts also began ripping off films, television programs, and celebrities. Style and popularity were very important at this time, and that was reflected in the adverts of the time.
Towards the end of the 80s children were becoming what some would call ‘super intelligent brats’. This again was reflected in the adverts of the time. Children were growing up quicker, and most were desperate to become adults. This also provided advertisers with another use for children in adverts. Since children were getting better education and were gaining more individuality, they were becoming almost more intelligent than the adults were and so were a source of information on whatever product was being advertised.
Towards the end of 80s, there was a reflection from the past, or more specifically the end of the 70s. Adverts were showing that there was something more to life. Again idealism, or at least a need for idea comes across in a lot of the adverts of the time. And again the advertisers used the idea of going back to remember their youth, which they will remember as good, whereas in fact it might not have been.
The 1990s brought some changes to the advertising industry. Cigarette, cigar and tobacco adverts were banned. The amounts of alcohol adverts were decreased. And adverts about “Drink Drivers” and the like became a lot more effectual. Contraception adverts were shown on TV. Society was very much health and safety orientated. The adverts discouraging drink driving and encouraging contraception would not have been around in the 50s so the 90s in a way brought a new type of society. To the society the health and safety of a person was a lot more important than it had been, and previous stereotypes, such as the macho male, were destroyed because it was socially acceptable to be more safe.
Towards the end of the 80s and throughout the 90s people became a lot more open minded. Ethnic minorities were shown a lot more. Racism was not really an issue. The society was becoming multi-cultural and was a definite reflection of society of the day.