This assignment asks you to analyze a subset of ads. That subset is defined by some combination of (but likely not all of) the following:

Product category (e.g., travel, beauty products, electronics, food)

Topic or cause (e.g., non-profits, charity, social cause)

Social category (race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or age group. It can also include things like mother/father/parents, family, marriage/relationships, and so on)

Time (decade or era)

Make observations, comparisons, and identify and explainthemes that you observe that are relevant to the course. Some concrete ideas are provided later in this assignment outline.

Where can I find ads?

Below are 3 websites that provide large collections of ads(CTRL+ click on the name to go to the site, or right-click and select open hyperlink, or select copy hyperlink and paste into a web browser). Depending on your interests, you can likely use just one of these sites to complete the assignment. Each is a bit different. One might be a better option for you than the others, depending on what you are interested in.

1) Ad*Access - A large collection of print ads from 1911-1955. You can search for certain keywords. If you scroll down on this page, you can limit your search to a certain range of years, specific companies, or subjects, which includes different product categories and groups(Screenshot A). A guide with more information can also be found here and might make the process a bit easier by giving you pre-set searches (Screenshot B). These include different groups represented in the ad and different product categories. This is a good collection if youre specifically interested in very old ads.