collage

My focus is on looking at food advertisements from the 1950's and understanding how food was marketed according to food trends, advertising techniques, etc. during the time.

In an article entitled, "Economic Aspects of Food Advertising and Promotion," Herrell DeGraff writes,

"More than most people know, and far more than most would acknowledge, we are molded by salesmanship. A majority pride themselves on their cynicism and their capacity to sort out and discount self-serving appeals to their attention and their pocketbooks. Yet we all fall for whomever piques our curiosity, stimulates our imagination, and ends by creating a want where no want existed."

This can be seen in all kinds of advertising, but is particularly unavoidable in the realm of food advertising, for food is something that everyone needs and therefore we were/are more easily convinced of how we need it (i.e. fruit suspended in jello or casseroles made with canned soups and topped with potato chips).