ADVERTISING IN THE 1950s

Irrational Buying

During the 1950s American businessmen began to suspect that consumers could not be trusted to know what products they wanted to buy. Makers of everything from cars to catsup regularly lost money when they offered Americans what they said they wanted. A survey revealed that most beer drinkers would prefer a "light, dry" beer; but when questioned further, no one could explain how a "dry" beer would taste. Further, as U.S. companies produced goods in increasing amounts, it was in their interest to stimulate demand—that is, to convince consumers that they wanted (or, better yet, needed) products that otherwise would begin stacking up in warehouses. In 1955 the religious magazine Christianity and Crisis lamented the pressure on Americans to "consume, consume and consume, whether we need or even desire the products almost forced upon us." That same year advertisers were spending approximately fifty-three dollars per man, woman, and child in the country to hawk products. The key to sales success, advertisers believed, was reaching the irrational side of people that seemed to control their buying habits as much as their rational side did.

The Hidden Persuaders

Vance Packard's 1957 best-seller The Hidden Persuaders offered people an eye-opening account of business's use of motivational research (MR) to determine the psychological reasons behind American buying habits. In the marketplace, Packard explained, consumers frequently had to choose among a wide variety of competitors offering essentially the same product. There was little reason to prefer one detergent or brand of peanut butter to another. Motivational researchers—experts in human behavior such as psychologists and sociologists—were consulted to discover hidden sources of appeal that advertisers could exploit. On the advice of MR experts companies redesigned packages to take into consideration the psychological effects of color; and they changed their advertising to include appeals to such powerful subconscious motivators as sexual desire, the fear of death, and the need for security. Packard quoted one advertising executive: "The cosmetic manufacturers are not selling lanolin, they are selling hope.… We no longer buy oranges, we buy vitality. We do not just buy an auto, we buy prestige."

A New Medium

The sophisticated research into the psychology of consumers was only one indication of American businesses emphasis on advertising during the decade. Another was the amount of money advertisers spent. Annual spending on advertising rose from $5.7 billion in 1950 to nearly $12 billion in 1960. Much of this increase was due to the discovery of the advertising potential of television. By 1960 advertisers could use television commercials to reach almost 90 percent of American homes. Companies spent more of their advertising dollars on the new medium each year of the decade, and by 1955 it was already businesses preferred promotional tool. Advertisers benefited from endorsements by television celebrities, from Ronald Reagan for General Electric to Howdy Doody for Wonder Bread. Companies also sponsored entire series, with the company name featured prominently in the show's title—" Ford Star Jubilee," "Kraft Television Theatre," and the "Lux Show Starring Rosemary Clooney," for example. By the end of the decade advertisers had a stranglehold on American television. Out of every ten minutes of broadcasting, two were devoted to advertising.

No Offense

Sponsors also exerted considerable influence over the content of programming, out of fear of offending potential consumers. Writers for the show "Man Against Crime," for example, followed specific guidelines established by the show's sponsor, Camel cigarettes. No criminals could be shown smoking, and the hero could not investigate an arson case because viewers might be reminded of fires caused by cigarettes. When playwright Reginald Rose proposed Thunder on Sycamore Street—a script about racial intolerance in an Illinois suburb—to CBS's "Studio One," the network and the show's sponsor approved the script only on the condition that Rose made the black family "something else." Other-wise, southern audiences might be offended. Advertisers generally disliked drama series such as "Studio One" because they presented, as playwright Paddy Chayefsky put it, "the marvelous world of the ordinary"; realistic portrayals of life's problems ran counter to advertisers' commercials, which claimed that all problems had easy answers.