Advertising is basically a means to communicate and is used to sell products and services. It is generally believed to have begun with newspapers in the seventeenth century. In the beginning, it had only the basic description along with the price of the product. In the late nineteenth century, with the help of technological advancements, illustrations as well as colours were added to the advertisement.
By the end of the nineteenth century, advertising agencies were established and advertising became a separate full fledged working institution. These advertising agencies helped their clients to carry on with manufacturing without the worry of marketing their product.

Advertising got a major boost during the First World War. As all governments used advertising as a means of propaganda, it also had its effects on the entrepreneurs; it accelerated the desire to create need in the consumer. This desire has thus dominated the advertising business since the 1920s.
With the introduction of mass media, advertisers used the radio and cinema as a means to transmit commercial messages. However, it was effective for a short period of time only.

The Great Depression of the 1930s and the Second World War depleted the need of advertising because people did not have enough money to indulge in the goods. This situation lasted till the 1950s.
After the end of the World War the Advertising industry got a big boom and it led to the current highly developed creative industry. Now no one can sell a product or service without an advertisement.