'Living Advertisements': The Poster Ball in Australia.

In August 1900, a new type of charity event – the advertising poster ball – was introduced to Australia. The event brought together a range of pre-existing cultural forms to promote mass market brands, facilitated by a new, visual advertising culture. Over the next forty years, the poster ball was a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Australian Historical Studies Vol. 53; no. 3; pp. 452 - 473
Main Author: Dickenson, Jackie
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Aug2022
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Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:In August 1900, a new type of charity event – the advertising poster ball – was introduced to Australia. The event brought together a range of pre-existing cultural forms to promote mass market brands, facilitated by a new, visual advertising culture. Over the next forty years, the poster ball was adopted by community groups, becoming a regular feature on the social and fundraising calendar. By harnessing people's innate longing for creative expression and shared social activity to the promotion of commercial brands, the poster ball linked these brands to pleasurable social events, helping embed them in Australian cultural memory.