In the history of the United States, advertising has been influenced by progress in technology, the economy, and national interests. Back in colonial America, advertisements were primarily announcements of goods and services that were in demand at the time. The popular source of advertisements in 17th century America was from the Pennsylvania Gazette written by Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. This newspaper got the attention of readers with the use of ads next to the written editorial. What made these advertisements successful was that it targeted the interest of mainly American men back in the 1700s with the ads talking about self-improvement and various consumer goods that were in demand. Going straight into the 1940s, the first televised …show more content…
The famous safety razor company, Gillette, aired a commercial starring 2016 athletes Neymar Jr., Ning Zetao, Ashton Eaton, and Andy Tennant called “Perfect Isn’t Pretty.” This commercial was the biggest one for me because it tells a story of four individuals who went through challenging endeavors. This was very interesting to me because I was able to relate to the hardships these four were going through before they became professionals. Gillette does not show off their razors very often in this commercial as it would detract from the purpose of the commercial. Like Under Armor’s ad, Gillette pushes the motivation factor as well but with more relatability. At the beginning of the commercial, all four are telling the audience struggles in their personal lives. The part to shook me was when Ning Zetao was dropped in a swimming pool as a toddler and following that clip was a coach yelling at him as a teenager. This impacted me because of how relatable that segment was with many other people’s upbringing. In the commercial, it shows the four athletes struggling during their training sessions by them getting injured. The message Gillette is trying to send here is that famous athletes are no different than regular people. The difference between the athletes and regular people is that the athletes fought through the hardships they were faced with. The name of the commercial must imply that the road to becoming perfect is not without any endeavors as shown throughout the ad. At the end of their training sessions, all four athletes were shaving with Gillette safety razors. The timing was perfect here because after the rigorous training they went through, they all came back