Advertising In The 1960s

The 1960’s in American were a time of widespread social and political change. Following a WWII victory, it was time for people to live their lives as they pleased and exercise their freedoms as consumers. The result of the baby boom in the previous years created a large and euphoric youth market for advertisers. This new youth were known to be rebellious and distrustful of the government, they demanded a more creative, yet straight to the point, form of advertising. Looking at 1960’s advertisements ranging from Pepsi Cola to Maidneform Brassieres, it is clear that a creative uprising in advertising was taking place and its new strategies of creativity, irony, and self-contradicting humor would be placed at the forefront of advertisements. Reasons for this rise in ad creativity included a powerful youth market demanding a different quality of advertising,

In 1959 Volkswagen decided to begin its first ad campaign in the U.S. with advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB). They broke the rules of advertising with their first ad campaign “Think small” seen in exhibit 2. No one had ever taken a full page ad and only displayed the product on a quarter of that page before. The ad is exactly the opposite of what you would expect of a car advertisement and that was the point. It was merely a black spec surrounded by an ocean of white. Combined with the statement “Think small” it was a self-contradicting and shocking statement. The ad got people thinking maybe owning a small car could be a good thing and it was a huge hit among young consumers looking to make a statement. In a New York Times article, Peter Bart called the campaign “unorthodox” as well as a “double-barreled success”, meaning it was a huge success for both Volkswagen and