About 3,000 years ago a papyrus (writing paper made from the pith of papyrus plant) was discovered at Thebes, an ancient city in Egypt, on the Nile River. It offered a reward for the capture of a runaway slave – a person who was owned by another person and had no freedom at all. It was really an advertisement bringing to public notice about the disappearance of a slave. It is believed to be the first and the oldest advertisement in the world.
When man started trade in the olden days, the methods he had adopted to make known his products to the ordinary people were very few. One was the town ‘crier’. He used to go around the streets shouting about the products which were available for sale. This method also used to pass on some information to the people in general.
Later on, walls were used as base for written advertisements. They conveyed information about the products and attracted the attention of the passers-by. Then came ‘posters’, large paper advertisements put up in a public place. Historians who make a careful study to find out new facts have discovered in some ruins of ancient Egypt, posters in the form of wall paintings. But the motive is the same – inviting the attention of the public or making them does something.