Every now and then we encounter various advertisements that take us by surprise with their originality and whimsicality. How about the one where a man was offering himself as a navigator in public transport, since he knows the routs so well? Only 5 EUR, too! Another one that stood out was the sale of Audi, where the owner had written nothing more and nothing less than the price of the car in the information field – 480 EUR (it was shared over thousand times). Once a woman was looking to rent a single room in her flat, but the only photograph was that of herself, and none of the flat. Whether these interesting ads generated the sales that they were created for, we don’t quite know. But how did advertisements come to be?
History of ads
The earliest historic evidence dates back to Ancient Egypt when papyruses were posted on walls, informing the people about various goods or services. During the times of Ancient Greece and Rome this was a popular way of informing on Lost & Found items.
The earliest ads in Africa, Asia, or North America were cave drawings, dating, perhaps, as far as 4000 BC. The Ancient Chinese wrote their first ads in the form of poetry – selling candy.
The Europeans did not take on with this trend up until the Middle Ages. Since the majority of people did not know how to read, these ads were illustrations – e.g. a hat, clothing, flour, blacksmith, etc.
Around the 18th century the first newspaper ads started appearing; the dawn of the printed press made advertisements an integral part of our daily lives, and their importance is only growing.
The new era – advertisement portals
Classified ads are becoming just as important as shopping centres. One can find almost anything on the most popular online portals – goods, services, hired help, employees and employers, even pen-pals and love. It is safe to say that everything has become just a couple of clicks away without having to leave the comfort of home; with just the right keywords and filters, we can find just about anything within minutes. I wonder, how long did it take for news to spread in the ancient times?...