The first commercial television advertisement Aired on July 1, 1941, at 2:29 PM in the United States
Although television broadcasting began in the USA in 1928, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) did not issue commercial licenses to channels until July 1, 1941.
The first television product placement
The first experimental TV advertisement can be considered a sports broadcast from 1939: during the championship game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds, NBC provided television advertising appearances for three sponsors of the Dodgers (Procter & Gamble Co., Socony Oil, and General Mills).
On this day, Red Barber (1908-1992), the legendary radio sports broadcaster, presented the sponsors„ products without a previously written script or rehearsal. He first held an Ivory soap in his hand, calling it great and mentioning its excellent cleaning properties. Then he lifted a Mobil motor oil can and said a few words about the oil's high quality. Finally, he poured a box of Wheaties cereal into a bowl and sliced a banana on top while stating the product's slogan: ”The breakfast of champions."
The broadcast could reach about 400-500 television owners in New York in the summer of 1939. Variety also reported on the first television advertisement:
„The picture was not very clear, probably due to the cloudy sky, but we saw enough to understand how to advertise on television.”
NBC was able to avoid the FCC fine since all three companies were radio sponsors of the Dodgers.
The first „legal” commercial television advertisement was also aired during a baseball game broadcast on July 1, 1941, the day the FCC-issued license came into effect. Only WNBT, owned by NBC, took advantage of the opportunity.
The first TV advertisement
The New York-based Bulova Watch Co. aired its „Bulova Time Check” advertisement before the Brooklyn Dodgers-Philadelphia Phillies matchup. The TV advertisement lasted a total of 9 seconds and reached only a few thousand people: at that time, about 4,000 people in the New York area owned television sets.
The slogan „America runs on Bulova time” spoken during the advertisement is very similar to the slogan that BULOVA used during its first national radio advertisement in 1926, thus being well-known across America:
„At the tone, it’s eight o’clock, B-U-L-O-V-A Watch Time.”
The cost of the first television advertisement was remarkably low: it cost Bulova only $9 (4 dollars for airtime and 5 dollars for station fees).
The Bulova advertisement was a milestone in the history of television, but its greatest impact lies in serving as a model for advertisers. Soon, more and more businesses (e.g., Pan American World Airways or Firestone Tyre) created their own television advertisements.
Although commercial advertisements were sidelined for a time during World War II, the end of the war, the spread of devices, and the advancement of technology soon brought about the first golden age of commercial television advertising.
Are you interested in the topic?
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- ‘EVERYBODY KNEW IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING BIG’
- WHO’S ON FIRST? ANSWER IS BULOVA, BUT THERE WERE NUMEROUS EXPERIMENTS ON TV DIAL IN THE EARLY DAYS
- How General Mills helped shape baseball broadcasts
- This Is the World’s First TV Ad
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheaties
