Imagine the peacocks and flowers of the world. Colors, sounds, and performances convey to the rest of the species that you are a suitable match. Plant seeds and pollen are spread by other animals only if they can attract attention. Human beings instinctively understand and respond to advertising. It is encoded in our genes from eons of evolution.

Product advertising is an obvious extension of this evolutionary phenomenon. We take advantage of techniques that capture the attention of humans so that they consider a purchase or an idea. The way we imagine advertising in its many forms did not emerge until the advent of mass production with the Industrial Revolution.

Before that time, products were marketed within small communities and there was no need to attract a large audience. In fact, illiteracy rates were so high that publicity would have been useless. However, once markets expanded beyond tight-knit groups, word of mouth would no longer be enough to sell your products.

Mass production allowed for many revolutions to occur that fueled advertising practices. First, printing became much cheaper as it became more automated. This meant that companies could mass-produce advertising for the first time. In addition, societies began to recognize the need for education. Thus, explosions in both readability and print availability gave rise to advertising during the industrial revolution.

Advertising soon became an industry unto itself when newspapers and magazines began allowing paid advertisements to be placed in their publications. This allowed specialists to earn a living by designing and implementing advertising rather than manufacturing products themselves.

Every new means of communication that has been developed has opened doors to advertising. The printing press gained mass appeal just after the start of the Industrial Revolution. The next big leap was radio, a medium that exploded in popularity beginning in the 1920s. The rise of radio commercials paralleled this development.

Television followed the same marketing path as radio beginning in the 1950s. The next, and perhaps greatest, breakthrough for advertising was the popularization of the Internet beginning in the 1990s. Each medium gradually expanded the potential audience to the point where today an advertisement can reasonably reach the entire world.

In fact, it can be argued that advertising made different media possible. Interestingly, the need for advertising has grown over time. In print media, ad-free subscription sales could support a publication. Of course, additional revenue from ads can significantly increase profitability. Radio became significantly more engaged with advertisers, as broadcast signals could not be restricted to subscribers only at the time. Therefore, the sale of advertisements increased the profitability of the radio medium.

Until cable became popular, television was the same as radio. The signals were transmitted indiscriminately to antennas in homes, so it was necessary to sell advertising to support the industry. However, with cable and other subscription-based services gaining traction in the 1980s, television was able to detach itself somewhat from the need to sell advertising to gain support.

The Internet presented a particularly difficult medium to market. A subscription-based website could easily be undermined by similar free websites. This availability of widely available free material made advertising essential to supporting Internet businesses, unless a tangible product was being sold. At that time, many people felt that the Internet was not profitable.

Today, advertising is firmly integrated into all the media at our fingertips. Commercials appear on the radio, on television, and in Internet videos. The ads are placed liberally on web pages, billboards, buildings and buses to attract your attention. Reaching an audience to persuade them has never been so easy and complicated at the same time as it is today.

The sheer volume of information bombarding the world means your ad must stand out to be recognized. Despite this challenge, there is no better way to support a product than through successful advertising.