- William Hesketh Lever is seen as the creator of creative advertising, whilst Bill Bernback was the first to combine copywriters and art directors (which is having someone to create ideas and someone to design these)
- Lever was born in 1851 at the height of the trade/empire
- William Hesketh Lever was the first to sell pre packaged cut soap before that people bought long bars of soap. He added brand value through advertising and packaging.
- The ad boom happened in the 1880's when there was a tax cut on papers, print boom in the 1880's
- Lever Bros was the first multinatioanl corporation
- ‘Colourful, innovative advertising was crucial to Lever’s success’ (Port Sunlight Museum, 2009)
- Lever Bros and other soap manufacturers used contempary paintings in advertising by buying them and adding phrases onto them, Lever added the phrase 'so clean' and the paintings he used generally depicts women and children wearing white cotton or lace. The children signifies joy, blessings, purity, innocence and life because child mortality rates were high.
- Leverhulme used for an advertisement poster 1889, As good as newImplies dress worn by brides mother, passing down beauty secrets it uses emotional strategy.
- Sunlight soap was one of the first to appear in a global ad campaign, they were the first company to use prouct placement (the wedding morning). He bought the painting specifically for an advertisement.
- Royal endorsement from 1892 ‘soap makers to Queen Vic. Democratisation ‘Queens will have only the best... sunlight soap is so cheap, everybody can afford to use it’
- 1890s Sunlight soap magazine ad www.advertisingarchives.co.uk, 1903 began a wrapper scheme, offering soap in return, 1904 offer a gramophone + records for 750 wrappers & rolled gold watch for 4,000 (Port Sunlight Museum, 2009)
- The company offered a promotion which offered paper dolls with interchangeable clothes (capture the children) thhis attracts mothers to buy the soap so the children can receive the gift.
Discrepancy theory
- Discrepancy between self & ideal image of self.
- Publics leisure practices, bathing habits etc. were inferior to those depicted.
- Lever Bros Lux ads by mid 20s said to preserve ‘soft, youthful lovely feminine hands’ + celebrity endorsement
- ‘nine out of ten screen stars care for their skin with Lux soap’ (Lewis, 2008)