Publicity for Profit Week – February 2-8, 2025

History of Publicity for Profit Week

The word ‘publicity’ originates from the French word ‘publicité’ (advertisement). Publicity as a practice originated in the core of Paris, where things such as shopping, tourism, and the entertainment industry intersected with commercialized print media and a fledgling publishing industry. In urban society, consumption and consumer identities were revealed to the public through advertisements. French caricature magazine “La Maison Aubert” shaped the emerging discipline of publicity. By the early 19th century, advertisements and publicity campaigns for consumer items in Paris soon attracted regulation on flyposting.

In the 19th century, American companies included pro-sales messages in their publicity, as well as explanations and demonstrations. Manufacturers of patent medicine and cosmetics in the U.S. frequently described and showed consumers the ‘before’ and ‘after’ results of using their products. The Blair Manufacturing Company was among the first U.S. companies to employ comparisons between old-fashioned and progressive customers in the advertisement of their products. Before-and-after changes then became common in advertisements from 1910.

The relative benefit of publicity was criticized by contemporary economist Thorstein Veblen who argued that vendibility does not equate to utility. He further estimated the added cost of publicity to the price consumers were paying. It was his opinion that the publicity for over-the-counter pharmaceutical and cosmetic products made up more than half the retail price.