A Brief History of Animation - Animation in Advertisment

When we look at the history of animation used within advertisment, you could say it dates back to 1899 with 'Matches an appeal' by Arthur Melbourne Cooper. 'Matches an appeal' could be classed as a stop-motion advert, advertising for donations to send matches to troops. The advert consists of a matchstick man, using matchsticks to spell out the companies name. 

This was a turning point. Suddenly people were starting to realise that animation can have as much impact as illustration in campaigns. A great example of illustration proving most popular in an advertising campaign is Norman Rockwell's illustration for Coca Cola;

Who painted their ads between 1925 and 1939. They are now considered as pieces of art that would sell for $500,000 in auction. It is safe to say he helped the brand massively in becoming the iconic product it is today.

Nowadays in comparison we mainly use 3D software to create animations. Why is this? Because it is more industry efficient, there is a lesser waste of materials seen as it is all CG which makes it cheaper and it is also more efficient and quicker, which is what is needed for the mass consumerism society today.

However, only recently I was pleasantly surprised by a new advertisement by 'carwow' which I found very creative and a tribute to the old processes of animation;

The advertisment is really creative in how it employs a phankinascope on the car wheels, so as the car wheels spin, the cut outs come alive, all signifying points about what the brand has to offer. I feel the advert is very effective, the complex phankinascope creation conveys the professionality of the brand. At the start we see who we assume to be the animators carefully crafting the phankinascopes, conveying the brands originality in using such an outdated form of animation and their creative flair in comparison to other car brands out their. The animation intrigues the audience with its aesthetic, therefore effectively persuading in the process.