Early Days of the Advertising Business

Secrets, humiliations and legends in early days of the adverting industry’s explosion, from an article of LIFE Magazine April 28th, 1958.
As you may expect, these pages are quite indulgent (read that passage on the Hidden Persuaders, just below), yet they demistify a lot of clichés still enduring today, as you may know if you watch that stereotype-filled soap opera which is AMC’s Mad Men.

“Motivational research, one of the most controversial of all ad agencies techniques and the target of the Hidden Persuaders, is simply an attempt to take a deeper look into the soul of the customer. In many cases, asked why they prefer Brand A to Brand B, customers cannot honestly say – or they give a reason which they only think is the true one. Motivational research, which utilises such psychological techniques as word association and ink-blot tests, is an attempt to uncover the real and sometimes subconscious reasons.”