Old and New Ads for Computer Hardware
Even though I try to avoid looking at ads on billboards, television, in newspapers and magazines, and at websites, it is inevitable that I see them for the millisecond in my mind’s eye. And that is all the time advertising writers need.
Ad copy writers tell viewers of the unique features of the product compared to competitors (e.g., cost, speed, simplicity of use) and the benefits you will gain from buying it (e.g., efficiency, productivity). Ad writers also try to create positive feelings surrounding the product such as being the first to get the product, or keeping up with the crowd, or being associated with an admired figure or that it will attract attention from the opposite sex should you buy the product. Psychologists point out that the best ads create positive feelings in viewers leading to increased sales.
In looking at ads for computer hardware over the past 40 years, one can see the features that ad writers stressed, the positive feelings they sought to create, and how many companies were in the hardware market then and are now gone.
Here is a sampling.
