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Opt In To Advertising's New Age Exhibition at The New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library Traces the Evolution of Advertising Through the Ages Exhibition Showcases Most Notable Print, Radio, Television and Online Advertising Through 3-D, Interactive Sculptures Co-presented by the Online Publishers Association, Exhibit Opens Tuesday, September 27, in Connection with Advertising Week in New York City NEW YORK, NY, September 14, 2005 -The history and future of advertising is the focus of the new exhibition Opt In To Advertising's New Age , presented by the Online Publishers Association and The New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library. The exhibition presents a selection of great creative works from print, radio, television and online advertising, from the 18th century to today. Showcasing some of the most significant and beloved ads of all time, the exhibit emphasizes the impact of new technologies on creative advertising formats. The exhibition debuts during Advertising Week 2005 - a week-long celebration of advertising in New York - and is on view from September 27 to December 31, 2005 at The New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library, located at 188 Madison Avenue at 34th Street. Admission is free. Following its New York Public Library debut, the exhibition travels to Los Angeles in February 2006 and then to Chicago later in the year. Opt In To Advertising's New Age is drawn primarily from the extensive archives of The One Club, the world's foremost non-profit organization for the recognition and promotion of excellence in advertising, with a selection of radio ads from the archives of the Radio Advertising Bureau and the Radio-Mercury Awards. The exhibit begins in a distant era, telling the story of how new technologies have always inspired great advertising, and how each era's most creative ads remain important reflections of their times. From the increasing sophistication of ads brought about by offset printing technology, to the intimacy afforded by radio in the 1920s, to the unprecedented mass appeal of television ads from the 1960s and 70s, to the engaging interactivity of the Internet's most compelling ads, the exhibit also inspires visitors to imagine the future of advertising. This is illustrated through an interactive activity where visitors are invited to share their reactions to the exhibit and thereby create an advertisement for the show that is uniquely tailored for them. "We are pleased to be introducing this exhibit at such an important time in the evolution of media and advertising," said Michael Zimbalist, president of the Online Publishers Association. "Looking back at the history of advertising, it is clear that the Internet - like the technologies of print, radio and television before it - is significantly impacting the creative techniques being used by marketers to reach consumers. Having been designed for visitors of all ages, we hope this exhibit will inspire the next generation of creative leaders who will translate the messages of marketers into ever more compelling works of commercial art." Opt In To Advertising's New Age is co-curated by John Ganly, Assistant Director for SIBL Collections at The New York Public Library, Mary Warlick, Executive Director of The One Club, and Kevin Swanepoel, Marketing and Interactive Director of The One Club. The Exhibit Experience The advertisements on exhibit are set within four unique interactive sculptures representing each featured medium. Great milestones in print advertisements from the 1800s to the present day are shown on a large screen monitor set within a bezel of large off-set letter blocks. Visitors can push the buttons on a gigantic radio to hear famed radio ads from the 1920s to today. With the turn of a knob on an oversized television set, guests can also replay and relive some of the greatest television ads of all time. And seated atop a large computer mouse in front of a jumbo computer screen, visitors can experience the evolution of online advertisements from the first banner ad to breakthrough rich media ads using sight, sound and motion. In addition to presenting the seminal advertising from each era, the exhibit also looks at the impact of various world events - from the depression, to the invention of the automobile, to the baby boom - on advertising. Specifically, the exhibit is presented against a backdrop displaying the historical, cultural and technological context in which each medium first flowered. Featured Advertisements Nearly 200 advertisements are featured in the exhibit, spanning the last 100 years of print, broadcast and online advertising. Significant and memorable print ads, including the 1938 "Green Giant's Orchid of the Pea Family" and the more recent, 1995, mint green "Altoids" ads, are on display, as are famed radio ads from each decade from the 1920s to the present. Visitors to the exhibit can listen to excerpts from the first real radio commercial ever broadcast - a 10 minute ad for real estate property broadcast on WEAF in New York in 1922; hear Frank Sinatra singing "Way Down Deep" in a 1942 radio ad for war bonds; and listen to Molson Golden Ale's famed "slice of life" radio ads from 1975. Television ads featured in the exhibit include the original 1958 ad for Mr. Clean, the classic "Hey Mikey" ad for Life Cereals that debuted in 1972, and the memorable Federal Express "Fast Talking Man" ad from 1982. In addition, visitors will experience some of the most significant online ads to date from advertisers such as Audi, Coca Cola, Absolut, HP and the U.S. Army. "The selection of work for this exhibition represents a wide range of style and development of art and copy in print, poster and television production," said Mary Warlick, Executive Director of The One Club and co-curator of the exhibit. "From the early poster design in the 19th century to the crisp, witty copy for Volkswagen ads in the 1960s, advertising has been a mirror of our culture, how we have viewed ourselves or how we would have liked to have been seen. The One Club has championed creative excellence for the past thirty years and hopes to continue to educate the public and the advertising industry about the intrinsic value of good creative." The New York Public Library: A Major Resource for Advertising History David S. Ferriero, Andrew W. Mellon Director and Chief Executive of the Research Libraries, said: "We're very pleased to be co-presenting the Opt In To Advertising's New Age exhibition. Because the major creative and economic developments in advertising's history transpired in New York, it is a topic that The New York Public Library actively collects and preserves," he said. "In addition to the materials available at the Science, Industry and Business Library and throughout the branches, there are hundreds of historical advertising images available at The New York Public Library Digital Gallery, our free online database of images from our collections. We're also presenting a number of free lecture programs in September, at which speakers such as Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO-CCO, Kaplan Thaler Group, and Douglas Atkin, partner and chief strategy officer for Merkley & Partners, discuss marketing strategies and branding." "I knew of the thousands of reference and circulating titles in the SIBL's advertising collections," added Kristin McDonough, Robert and Joyce Menschel Director, Science, Industry and Business Library, The New York Public Library. "Highlights include the Archive of Advertisements, 1911-1921 , a collection of advertising pages; a complete, 90-year run of the Standard Advertising Register ; and Good Advertising by Charles Austin Bates, a classic work from 1896 by one of the advertising greats. What amazed me when I pored over the wonderful resource list compiled by John Ganly, SIBL's Assistant Director for Collections, were the advertising gems available in NYPL's other research libraries. I urge anyone interested in digging deeper into the history of advertising to use this bibliography on the exhibition website. Gems unearthed here include Bernays' classic work on public relations at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, advertising jingles at the Library for the Performing Arts and, at the Schomburg Center for Black Culture, the papers of Clarence Holte, who oversaw the ethnic consumer market for BBDO back in the 1960s." The Opt In To Advertising's New Age exhibit was produced and designed by LD Gertz and Associates and the Entity Agency, a full service creative agency based in Utah. Additional information about the exhibit is available at www.online-publishers.org/optin. About the Online Publishers Association About The New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library About The One Club As part of The One Club's mission to support the next generation of advertising professionals, the non-profit organization nurtures emerging talent through scholarships, portfolio reviews and an annual student exhibition and competition. The One Club maintains a full-time exhibition gallery, hosts an ongoing series of lectures and events, and produces publications that include the quarterly one.a magazine and The One Show and One Show Interactive annuals. Opt In To Advertising's New Age will be on view from September 27 through December 31, 2005, at The New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library, located at 188 Madison Avenue at 34th Street, in New York City. The exhibition is open during normal library hours, Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; closed Sundays, Mondays, and holidays. Admission is free. For further information, call 212-592-7000 or visit www.nypl.org/sibl. The Online Publishers Association gratefully acknowledges Panasonic for their contribution of the screens and monitors used in the exhibit, and Advertising Week in New York City for their general support. ### Contact: Gayle Snible 212.704.8600 | Lisa Carparelli 917.743.4357 gs:09.14.05:nypl010
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