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Benjamin Day publishes the Sun, the first successful "penny newspaper" in New York. By 1837, circulation reaches 30,000, making it the world's largest newspaper.
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Volney Palmer opens the first advertising agency in Philadelphia.
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New York agency Carlton & Smith begins buying the right to place advertising in religious magazines.
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With $250, Francis Wayland Ayer opens N.W. Ayer & Son (named after his father) in Philadelphia and implements the first commission system based on "open contracts."
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The first convention of advertising agents is held in New York.
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James Walter Thompson buys Carlton & Smith from William J. Carlton, paying $500 for the business and $800 for the office furniture. He renames it after himself and moves into general magazine advertising. Later, he invents the position of account executive.
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Department store founder John Wanamaker is the first retailer to hire a full-time advertising copywriter, John E. Powers.
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Procter & Gamble Co. begins advertising Ivory soap with an unprecedented budget of $11,000.
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Cyrus H.K. Curtis launches Ladies' Home Journal with his wife, Louisa Knapp Curtis, as editor.
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N.W. Ayer promotes advertising with the slogan "Keeping everlastingly at it brings success."
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N.W. Ayer promotes advertising with the slogan "Keeping everlastingly at it brings success."
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The American Newspaper Publishers Association is formed.
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Ladies' Home Journal bans patent-medicine advertising.
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Asa Briggs Chandler registers Coca-Cola as a trademark.
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Frank Munsey drops the price of Munsey's Magazine to 10� and the cost of subscriptions to $1, marking the first attempt at keeping a magazine afloat by advertising revenue rather than newsstand sales.
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George P. Rowell of Boston founds Printer's Ink, a magazine that serves as the "little schoolmaster in the art of advertising."
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N.W. Ayer helps National Biscuit Co. launch the first prepackaged biscuit, Uneeda, with the slogan "Lest you forget, we say it yet, Uneeda Biscuit." Eventually, the company launches the first million-dollar advertising campaign for Uneeda.
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The Association of American Advertisers, predecessor to the Association of National Advertisers, is formed.
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N.W. Ayer establishes a Business-Getting Department to plan advertising campaigns based on prospective advertisers' marketing needs.
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The Associated Advertising Clubs of America, a group of agencies, advertisers and media representatives, is formed.
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W.K. Kellogg places his first ads for Corn Flakes in six midwestern newspapers.
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A group of large agencies forms the Association of New York Agents, predecessor to the American Association of Advertising Agencies.
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Woodbury Soap breaks its "The skin you love to touch" campaign in the Ladies' Home Journal, marking the first time sex appeal is used in advertising.
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The Federal Trade Commission Act is passed, and Joseph E. Davies is named the first FTC chairman. Section 5 allows it to issue cease-and-desist orders against dishonest advertising.
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A group of agencies forms the National Outdoor Advertising Bureau, which eventually controls about three-quarters of the outdoor national advertising in America.
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The American Association of Advertising Agencies, the first agency trade association, is established with 111 charter-member agencies.
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The Queensboro Corp. a Long Island real estate firm, buys the first commercials in advertising history
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National Carbon Co.'s "Eveready Hour" is the first regular series of broadcast entertainment and music to be sponsored by an advertiser.
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Goodrich Tires sponsors the first hourlong show over a network of nine radio stations.
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Lintas (Lever International Advertising Services) is formed as a house agency for Unilever in England, Holland and Germany.
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Following the stock market crash, advertising spending plummets.
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American Tobacco Co. spends $12.3 million to advertise Lucky Strikes, the most any company has ever spent on single-product advertising.
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Age is launched in Chicago.
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Life publishes its first edition. It later becomes the first magazine to carry $100 million annually in advertising.
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Radio surpasses magazines as a source of advertising revenue.
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The War Advertising Council is organized to help prepare voluntary advertising campaigns for wartime efforts.
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The Advertising Research Foundation endorses A.C. Nielsen's machine-based ratings system for TV.
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The Advertising Research Foundation endorses A.C. Nielsen's machine-based ratings system for TV.
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CBS becomes the largest advertising medium in the world
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Vance Packard's "The Hidden Persuaders," a potent attack on advertising, is published.
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David Ogilvy publishes "Confessions of an Advertising Man."
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"The Pepsi Generation" kicks off the cola wars.
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NBC drops its ban on comparative advertising.
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Ted Bates' first creative chief and promoter of advertising offers a "unique selling proposition," resigns at age 55.
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The Four A's, ANA and American Advertising Federation launch the National Advertising Review Board to monitor questions of taste and social responsibility in advertising.
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Congress prohibits broadcast advertising of cigarettes.
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The Supreme Court grants advertising First Amendment protection.
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Congress removes the FTC's power to stop "unfair" advertising.
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Needham Harper Worldwide, BBDO International and Doyle Dane Bernbach merge to create Omnicom Group, the largest advertising company in the world.
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online advertising opens new doors
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Metro Int’l., a Swedish firm, pioneered free daily newspapers supported by advertising.
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David Ogilvy (88), British-born American advertising executive, died in Bonnes, France. In 2009 Kenneth Roman authored “the King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the making of Modern Advertising.”
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AOL and Warner Bros. announced plans to create a broadband network called In2TV to streamcast old TV shows beginning in early 2006. They planned 2 minutes of advertising for each half hour.
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An Arkansas judge approved a $90 million settlement between Google Inc. and advertisers who claimed improper billing for fraudulent clicks on ads.
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A broad electoral reform that infuriated Mexico's broadcast industry by barring political parties from buying radio and television advertisements took effect.
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Julian Sivulka authored “Ad Women: How They Impact What We Need, Want, and Buy,” a history of women’s role in American advertising.
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Francesca Beauman, British historian, authored “Shapely Ankle Preferr’d: A History of the Lonely Hearts Ad.”
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Hyundai Aims To Dominate 2012 Super Bowl Auto Advertising