Coming of Age… And colour!

The 1960s was the “coming of age” for advertising.
The industry had mastered the language of TV, made photography its own and produced works of art that had very been seen before!

It would be foolish to say that advertising isn’t often heavily influenced by the times social and cultural changes but this was especially evident in the Swinging 60s, advertising was reflecting the a trend toward innovation, sophistication and the growing youth culture.

Advertising was providing the stimulant to keep consumption at its all time high, but better yet (and probably better well known for) it was initiating the decades creative revolution!
Old design styles were being cast aside and being replaced with the irreverent, humorous, ironic or meaningful. This caused a bit of trouble for the advertising industry as consumer advocates sought protections for buyers.

New Design 

Starting in 1959 and running into the early ’60s, Doyle Dane Bernbach created one of the most renowned campaigns in advertising history for Volkswagen to promote its tiny Beetle in the U.S. at a time when Americans were mesmerised by large, tail-finned, super-powered automobiles. DDB decided to capitalise on the car’s “liabilities” and advertise it with honesty. “Think small”—broke the rules in advertising by employing negativity to address a product’s features. In the case of Volkswagen, that meant no frills, no glamour, no model changes and very little horsepower.

As advertising companies depended less on research designers were able to rely more heavily on their creativity. Forgoing images of elitism, materialism and respect for institutions along with other traditional beliefs, ads attempted to use irony and humour to entice consumers.
Combining art and commerce was the benchmark of the 60s. The new advertising style took reference from TV and other popular mediums of the day which featured the large visual and minimal copy, this boosted the dramatic feel of the time. Print ads developed a more realistic look, using more photography in place of the illustration style of the past. Television ads gained sophistication as editing techniques were mastered.

Toward the end of the 1960s, with an economic recession taking shape, clients pressured advertisers to justify its costs. In the agencies, accountants and business administrators were finding themselves in positions formerly held by those from the creative side advertising. Market research again took priority as the solution to the economic decline. Recession and a trend toward conservatism marked the end of a decade noted for its unprecedented creative surges in both advertising and culture as a whole.