In fact, there were a variety of advertisements in ancient times. It cannot be said that Lin'an and Bianjing in the Song Dynasty can be representative. Depending on each historical stage, advertising will also have differences in form. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, there were mostly cultural and sports advertisements, and in the Han Dynasty, behavioral advertising was the most popular. It was not until the Song Dynasty that a large number of physical advertisements appeared, including trademarks, plaques and other physical advertisements.
In ancient wine shops, a flag for good wine would be hung high at the door. This was the earliest commercial advertisement. This kind of advertisement had already appeared in history before the Song Dynasty. According to ancient records, this kind of advertisement appeared in the Han Dynasty. This kind of advertising has been circulated to this day and is the most basic, lowest-cost, most convenient and obvious form of advertising. At that time, Su Dongpo helped an old lady write an advertisement for free, which should be the earliest charity advertisement.
In fact, the reason why there is a saying "Which company is stronger in ancient advertising, Lin'an or Bianliang in the Song Dynasty" is mainly because the physical advertising in the Song Dynasty was the most highly evaluated and influential form of advertising in ancient times. But in fact, it cannot be called a representative of ancient advertising. The level of advertising development in the Song Dynasty already included copyright awareness. Each household will have its own trademarks, plaques, and banners to introduce and display its stores and products to attract customers and business.
Our current advertising actually had its prototype a long time ago. The ancients had great wisdom. Aren’t text ads, physical ads, celebrity endorsements, and charity ads the forms of advertising we are using now? Therefore, for the advertisements circulating, it is not possible to accurately say which era can be called representative. Every era has its own characteristics, which are unique and cannot be compared.