How Did Ww2 Change Advertising

During times of war many advertisers must switch their ads around to include more war themes, and to make their products more appealing, more cost effective, and more sensitive to the war effort, in the eyes of the general public. Many companies did this for purely patriotic reasons and others strictly for financial reasons. But for whatever reason almost all companies had to change their game plan in some way to accommodate the changing economy brought on by the presence of war. Not only were private companies changing the way that they advertised their products, but wartime brought some of the most memorable ads and public service announcements in American History. Although the need for advertising, many products were drastically being reduced

entered World War II in 1941, creating immediate product shortages. Rubber and fuel were rationed, and auto production stopped completely. Despite high levels of discretionary income and full employment, there was virtually nothing for consumers to buy. After the war ended in 1945, the economic depression that was expected never happened-although inflation was high for a time-so product marketers set about satisfying Americans' pent-up demand. They introduced a range of modern new products, many of which were the result of technologies developed during the war. These included the aerosol spray can, nylon, plastics and Styrofoam, among many others. The baby boom (1945-64) began, with the birth rate shooting up 25% right after the war and staying high, leading advertisers to focus on mothers with new

On December 1st, 1942, at 9 pm, 30 million Americans tuned in once again, anxiously awaiting yet another installment of the now classic program. The country had gone to war, and in an effort to reduce the use of not only fossil fuels, but other precious commodities like rubber, the practice of gasoline rationing had begun. Fibber McGee, in this episode, was very adamant about his dislike for the new rationing measure: “Fibber McGee: What if I did want to go some place? In an emergency or something. Molly: You mean like running out of cigars? Fibber: Ah, forget my cigars, I'm talking about this mileage rationing. I think it's a dirty deal. The whole thing is silly! It's going to make everybody stay at home. Why, in two years a guy from Indiana won't know what a guy from Kansas is talking about. Molly: Where are you from? Fibber: Illinois. Molly: Then it's happened already. I don't even know what you are talking about.”