ADText is a project of the Advertising Educational Foundation. Professor William M. O'Barr, a specialist in advertising and its relationship to society, culture and history, is author of the curriculum units.

We know it when we see it. We are exposed to it thousands of times every day. Most of us are reasonably good, although seldom perfect, at distinguishing it from other kinds of messages. It is something that we tend to take for granted, seldom thinking about what it is or how it came into existence. But what is this thing called advertising?

The history of advertising chronicles the movement from face-to-face selling messages to the stilted, repetitive, printed advertisements of early newspapers to the dynamism of mass communication by radio and television to the re-personalization of messages via cable, Internet, and direct mail.

This unit examines subliminal communication, its supposed applications in advertising, and the public's fascination and horror of it. It is a story that has been told over and over but not without frightening the public, and making advertisers angry.

Advertising in Literature, Art, Film, and Popular Culture

To many people, high culture and lowbrow seem worlds apart. A more careful examination shows that literature, art, and film are intimately linked to advertising.

Varying points of view of advertising's role in society reflect significant differences in opinion about the worth of advertising. This unit examines the public's ideas about the advertising profession and the role it plays.

The need to mobilize the public to take action for the good of the community is as old as governance itself. In modern times, the mass media provide an important vehicle for calling on citizens to act in their best interests and those of society.

Representations of gender in advertisements appear repeatedly in popular culture (including advertisements) and are often accepted by those who see them as natural aspects of the human condition. They provide powerful models of behavior to emulate or react against.

The complex story of the evolution of modern Christmas celebrations reveals that some "traditions" are not so very old at all. This unit focuses on the role that advertising has played in shaping the myths and rituals of Christmas.

The process of interpreting ads often requires active participation of consumers who thereby become collaborators in determining the meanings of particular advertisements. As with other forms of artistic expression, commercial narratives function within the context of larger master narratives about production, consumption, and the "good life."

What makes us buy some products and not others? Why do we prefer some brands over others? In an effort to answer these questions, advertisers look to research.

Targeting Latinas, African-American Women, and Gay Consumers

Multiculturalism has emerged as one of America's most important social agendas in the 21st century. In advertising and marketing, it simply makes good business sense to take the culture of the consumer into account.

Contemporary advertising is the management of brands. Commercial messages encourage consumers to buy not just any soft drink, but a Coke, Pepsi, or Mountain Dew.

This unit focuses on truth and deception in advertising and on the ethical dilemmas of those who produce advertising. These case studies show that in advertising, just as in the world at large, there are not only clear instances of good and bad behaviors but also a vast grey area.

Nothing seems more contradictory to outsiders than the seemingly opposing economic philosophies of capitalism and communism—but both are robust forces in the China of the new millennium.

The creative process follows no prescribed formula, but rather its genius lies in the ability of "creatives" to find simple and elegant means to express their clients' messages in ways that will be noticed and remembered by potential consumers.

Brazil enjoys an international reputation for producing some of the world’s most creative advertising. This chapter explores some of the factors giving rise to the high level of creativity in Brazilian advertising and examines some recent campaigns that reflect the Brazilian style of advertising.