It’s almost impossible for many of us to think about chauvinistic advertising of the 1950’s and 1960’s and not think of Don Draper and Mad Men. Taschen has just released a two-volume showcase, ‘Mid-Century Ads: Advertising From the “Mad Men” Era’ (Taschen, 720 pages, $59.99) Taschen.com In recent years, we don’t seem to be able to get enough of the culture. To some degree it is certainly due to a fascination with the show, which has stirred a kind of resurgent interest in the post WWII days of high living, promise, glamour, and a sense of nationalism. It’s almost as if an entire nation moved into a collective consciousness for the first time, likely through the advances in communications, specifically television at the time.
The print ads that were curated for this massive two-volume book are a testament to that zeitgeist, a compelling snapshot of an era where marketing communications began to define and represent the mores of the day. And it reminds us of how much our culture has changed, what is acceptable, and what isn’t. Suffice to say, it’s been written about ad nauseam, so I’ll post some of these visual treats which pair clever, albeit socially inappropriate images and copy.
Taschen’s Shows Off The Best of Mid-Century Advertisements Photo-Op: Ad Infinitum
Tags: advertising, communications, Don Draper, Mad Men, marketing, nostalgia, Taschen
This entry was posted on Sunday, April 15th, 2012 at 2:54 pm and is filed under Advertising, Brand Identity, Business, Design, Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
