Oxfam: Press ads from the 1950s and 1960s
- Exhibited by
- Maxine Delahunty
- Added
- September 05, 2009
- Medium of Communication
- Broadcast and television, press advertising
- Target Audience
- Individuals
- Type of Charity
- International aid/development, poverty/social justice
- Country of Origin
- UK
- Date of first appearance
- Unknown
SOFII’s view
Please note: some readers may find some the images in these historical press ads upsetting.
This exhibit examines the infamous ‘starving baby’ ads from the 1950s and mid 1960s. Many in the development and disaster relief industries might prefer to leave these ads languishing in obscurity but they are important historically for fundraisers on several counts. These ads very effectively alerted the post-war British public to considerable humanitarian needs abroad. They helped to build Oxfam, which is still one of the great international development organisations fighting poverty around the world. And they are brilliant examples of direct marketing.
Two further additions to this historic exhibit (see below) show the unusual format of Oxfam press advertisements (also from the 1960s) prepared specially for The Guardian newspaper in the UK. The left-hand ad looks like a single column editorial-style story. Bold and direct, it adds credibility and authenticity and also bravely states Oxfam’s commitment then to make poverty history. The right-hand ad – and we imagine that each of these appeared on the opposite fore-edge of a facing double page spread – is the call to action, and despite the absence of a coupon, it is a powerful call to action.
Creator / originator
Harold Sumption and others.
Summary / objectives
To recruit new donors and raise money off the page.
Background
If you can help supply any further details for this exhibit please contact SOFII.
Special characteristics
Showing all the ingredients of effective direct marketing promotion, these ads may well have been modelled on the highly effective promotions of The Reader’s Digest and similar direct marketers.
Influence / impact
These ads established the efficacy of press advertising and set the standard for fundraising press advertising by charities.
Details
Not available but, as Harold Sumption was involved, they would have been rigorously tested.
Results
These ads consistently raised several times their cost whenever they appeared and helped Oxfam build a solid supporter base that quickly took it to the very top of the charity league tables in the UK.
Merits
Because these ads are very effective, they worked and they were forerunners of almost all charity advertising since then.
Other relevant information
Harold Sumption, creator of these advertisements, went on to become the founder of The International Fundraising Congress in Holland and the Resource Alliance.
SOFII enthusiast George Smith worked with Harold Sumption on the Oxfam account at this time. He sent us the following comment, to update this exhibit.
‘The two old Oxfam ads above, top left, are actually about ten years apart – the first is indeed mid-fifties (note the emphasis on Europe). But the second, the Pledged Gifts ad, is about 1964. Note the quasi-editorial running down the side and the case-histories of real-life PG collectors, two techniques which might well work today. Note, too, that this is a whole page in the Daily Mirror which would have been targeted to perform at three-to-one. As was everything then. Happy days!’
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