The aim of this study is to present the historical development of the role of the advertisement, in relation to the parallel development of technological instruments, which have been used in this business.
The advertisement through the years and centuries went much beyond its initial goal/mission, which is the selling of goods and became a major contributor to the creation of the ‘culture of consumption’, which is a pillar of the western societies.
The use of pictures, revealing the qualities of the products, besides their exposure to the public have been gradually complemented and upgraded by a series of technological achievements, which have increased drastically the opportunities for the promotion and projection of the product, while enhancing the impact of the advertisement in the society.
Thus, the study describes the use of the new instruments i.e. the photography, which has the ability to maximise and minimize the size of the product, while offering scientific evidence of its qualities, the cinema, which contributed in the developmentof ‘the myth of the product’ through the combination of pictures, sound and scenario and the television, which succeeded in bringing the products in our homes.
Finally, the study tries to explain how the advertisement, by creating its own time and space and through the repetition succeeds to convey messages regarding the usefulness and the social value of the products, ending up in the creation of a certain lifestyle, which does not necessarily reflect the everyday needs and realities of the people.