Before and After -Wild and crazy ads from the past and today’s direct marketing solutions
Today’s advertisers are governed by regulatory bodies such as Ofcom and the Advertising Standards authority but in the early days of advertising it seems that the advertiser gave free rein to his own creativity! Let’s take a look at one of the oldest advertising gambits but one that remains very effective to this day – the “before and after” scenario.
In the 19th century, unscrupulous advertisers made absolutely outrageous claims using “Before and after” graphics. Some terrific examples of trade cards issued in the late 1800s are featured in an excellent book by Ben Crane called “The Before and after trade card”. I will describe a few examples.
The purveyor of “Faircum Cough Drops” had a very bold claim on his calling card – “All public speakers and singers use them” and the “before” picture shows an opera singer flaked out in a chair behind the scenes unable to perform. One Faircum Cough Drop later and there she is, belting out her lungs on stage playing to a packed audience.
The rep for the “Haas Remedy for Animals” had an even better product if we are to believe his card. The scene is at a country fair in the “prize pig competition”. One pig-pen has “first prize” written on the fence and it houses three healthy, smiling pigs. Also written on the fence is the message “We used Haas Remedy”. The fence of the next pig-pen bears the message “We did not use Haas Remedy” and the three pigs in that pen are on their backs with trotters pointing to the sky – stone dead!
Rennes Pain Killing Magic Oil was pretty good stuff, too. The people pictured on the card are going mad to get the product. They have arms in slings, walking sticks, toothaches, bellyaches, headaches whereas those who have obtained a bottle are pictured walking out of the door with smiles on their faces.
M W Chase manufactured furniture for schools and churches and their “before and after” picture tells a wacky story. One poor child perched on a plain school bench is being severely beaten by his teacher who is wielding a switch. However, a child sat at a bench made by M W Chase is quietly reading a book, no doubt proving that the furniture made by M W Chase makes children well-behaved and not in need of a good thrashing.
Whilst Ofcom and the ASA weren’t around in those days you can easily imagine the travelling salesman being run out of town by farmers with sickly pigs or by teachers with comfortable but unruly pupils.
Move forward by over a century and an online search of “before and after” shows that the genre is alive and kicking though there are still examples of unscrupulous goings-on with the occasional report of an incidence of picture-tampering.
However, most of today’s advertisers using the “before and after” theme are entirely honest in their efforts to portray an easily understood message. The problem that many encounter, however, is not being run out of town by farmers and teachers but simply how best to get that message in front of their potential customers. Let’s take like for like. Today’s advertiser might want to advertise a product to the UK’s pig farmers and the product might be best served by using a “before and after” theme. A direct marketing effort could be an ideal answer.
That brings the now familiar problem of how to raise the level of the direct marketing piece above those submitted by competitors. Well, all is not lost as there are products on the market which are absolutely perfect for portraying the “before and after” theme and which are ideal for direct mail. One of the most simple and yet ingenious devices is our picture dissolve product which is custom printed to show the desired message and when the recipient pulls a tab at one end, the main picture dissolves into the new picture.
In fact, the versatile picture dissolve is absolutely tailor-made for the host of advertising themes centred on changing scenes. Take a company who is moving to new premises, a product that is re-launched under a new name, an advancement in technology, an increase in speed, an improvement in performance, an added ingredient – the suggestions are multitudinous! There are so many totally classic campaigns that could have been portrayed on these picture dissolve devices…. Melts in your mouth, Not in your hands….. Have a break; Have a kit Kat….. That’s Shell, That Was…. simply because the product’s main feature is a changing scene.
So, for today’s advertiser using the “before and after” theme there is no need to make outrageous claims – just use an advertising product that captures the customer’s imagination.
