I've been interested in the psychology of advertising since I heard on the radio, at about age twenty, the ploy the tuna industry used to sell canned tuna. Since canned salmon had been around for awhile before canned tuna hit the shelves, the tuna was met with indifference and sales were slow. They picked up dramatically when tuna was advertised as guaranteed not to turn red in the can!
Some pretty artwork went into advertisements and labels for products in the past..
Citrus producers on both coasts competed for consumer confidence..
I can actually remember cans of vegetables on the shelf bearing this label....
I love this precursor to the Marlborough Man even if tobacco is bad for you!
And who among us oldsters can forget the Burma Shave signs along the major highways. They were rhymes with each line on a separate sign so you read them easily as you drove past. Some advertised the shaving cream and some preached safety, but all were an amusing distraction from the boredom of a long automobile trip.
Some examples:
Car in ditch
Driver in tree
The moon was full
And so was he.
Burma Shave
**************
Speed was high
Weather was not
Tires were thin
X marks the spot
Berma Shave
***************
At intersections
Look each way
A harp sounds nice
But it's hard to play
Burma Shave
****************
I remember this one well. It was somewhere between Ashfork and Kingman on old route 66.
Around the curve
Lickety-split
It's a beautiful car
Wasn't it?
Burma Shave
I guess all we can do in our lives is beware of the slick advertisements and be aware that not turning red in the can does not necessarily equate with a superior product.
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