Using consumer advertising and promotional marketing materials for historical research: 1960s Heinz baked beans

Abstract

This case study will equip you with the intellectual and practical toolkit necessary to investigate and derive worthwhile information from historical advertising and promotional marketing materials, using the example of a scrapbook of baked beans advertisements from the 1960s. Most of the print advertising from this period has survived in archives around the world in various formats, including the original publications, microfilmed copies, and more recently digitised scans. Not all the reproductions are high quality. Furthermore, while some of the original advertisements were published in colour, many have been reproduced in black and white. Advertising can reveal a lot more than just the product being advertised. The text and images used can reveal information about the advertising agency, the agency’s client, the product being advertised, the consumers being targeted, and how the agency and its client view the society in which they are working. In this case study, you will learn what analytical questions you can ask of such sources and sample the kinds of answers you might expect to find in them. Analysis of the Heinz Baked Beans scrapbook also reveals information about how advertising campaigns, promotions, and competitions evolved during the period 1961–1968.