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advertising

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

advertising in general, any openly sponsored offering of goods, services, or ideas through any medium of public communication. At its inception advertising was merely an announcement; for example, entrepreneurs in ancient Egypt used criers to announce ship and cargo arrivals. The invention of printing, however, may be said to have ushered in modern advertising. After the influence of salesmanship began to insert itself into public notice in the 18th cent., the present elaborate form of advertising began to evolve. The advertising agency, working on a commission basis, has been chiefly responsible for this evolution. The largest group of advertisers are the food marketers, followed by marketers of drugs and cosmetics, soaps, automobiles, tobacco, appliances, and oil products. The major U.S. advertising media are newspapers, magazines, television and radio, business publications, billboards, and circulars sent through the mail. With the advent of the wide availability of electronic mail and access to the World Wide Web in the 1990s, the Internet has also become an important advertising venue. Since many large advertising agencies were once located on Madison Avenue in New York City, the term "Madison Avenue" is frequently used to symbolize the advertising business. The major criticisms of advertising are that it creates false values and impels people to buy things they neither need nor want and that, in fact, may be actually harmful (such as cigarettes). In reply, its defenders say that advertising is meant to sell products, not create values; that it can create a new market for products that fill a genuine, though latent, need; and that it furthers product improvement through free competition. The Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies, both founded in 1917, are the major associations.

Bibliography: See M. Mayer, Madison Avenue, U.S.A. (1958); R. Glatzer, The New Advertising (1970); R. Hovland and G. Wilcox, ed., Advertising in Society (1988); W. Wells et al., Advertising: Principles & Practice (4th ed. 1998); J. B. Twitchell, Adcult, USA (1995) and 20 Ads That Shook the World: The Century's Most Groundbreaking Advertising and How It Changed Us All (2000).

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"advertising." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"advertising." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-advertis.html

"advertising." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-advertis.html

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The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

ad·ver·tise·ment / ˈadvərˌtīzmənt; ədˈvərtiz-/ • n. a notice or announcement in a public medium promoting a product, service, or event or publicizing a job vacancy. ∎ (advertisement for) inf. a person or thing regarded as a means of recommending something: unhappy clients are not a good advertisement for the company. ∎ archaic a notice to readers in a book.

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"advertisement." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"advertisement." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-advertisement.html

"advertisement." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-advertisement.html

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A Dictionary of Ecology | 2004 | | Copyright

advertisement A form of display in which an individual makes itself as conspicuous as possible. It is used most commonly by male animals holding a territory, in order to ward off rivals and to attract females.

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MICHAEL ALLABY. "advertisement." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MICHAEL ALLABY. "advertisement." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-advertisement.html

MICHAEL ALLABY. "advertisement." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-advertisement.html

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A Dictionary of Zoology | 1999 | | Copyright

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MICHAEL ALLABY. "advertisement." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MICHAEL ALLABY. "advertisement." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-advertisement.html

MICHAEL ALLABY. "advertisement." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-advertisement.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Advertising, price, and welfare: evidence from the U.S. brewing industry. Magazine article from: Southern Economic Journal; 10/1/1995
	Advertising expenditures can be capitalized ... well at least sometimes. Magazine article from: The National Public Accountant; 10/1/1997
	Advertising & promotion commissions.(Tourism) Magazine article from: Arkansas Business; 3/5/2007