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Bradford Adverts Reel 2

Without trying to be too clever, these advertisements demonstrate the virtue of the uncomplicated: short, sweet and memorable.

Advert 1 mins Silent

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Overview

The changing face of trade is well illustrated with these ads for local shops and services in Bradford in the 1920s, with all three businesses featured having disappeared into the past, leaving very little, if any, trace. Although these animated ads are about as basic as possible, they still have the essential ingredient of appealing to peoples’ yearning for a better lifestyle – whether this means carpets, career or fresh cream.

This film originated with Mr Spink who owned a cinema in Yeadon, West Yorkshire. It isn’t known who made the film, very possibly Youngers Shoppers Gazette who made similar advertisements in Bradford during this period. Advertising in cinemas declined after the war, although a survey from 1943 showed that ads before the film were quite popular with the audiences. It was not helped by the poor quality of the adverts compared to television counterparts. Before then, in 1938, Associated Picture Corporation stopped advertising films in its 500 or so cinemas, with its Chairman and Managing Director, John Maxwell, declaring them “unethical” and that, “people come to be entertained not to be advertised at.”

Genres
Advert
Country
United Kingdom
Location
Bradford
Language
English

Subjects

Advertising Advertising campaigns Television advertising