Commercial advertisements in ancient China have a long history, which can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. In the famous Book of Songs Feng Weimang at that time, the most primitive forms of advertising were recorded: the cockroach and the silk traded in cloth. This poem means that young people hold cloth and wait for people to buy it. The cloth-hugging here is the earliest physical display advertisement; At the same time, a well-known story is described in "What Han Feizi did, the foreign reserve said the upper right": Song people who drank wine were promoted to be very careful when meeting guests, because the wine was beautiful and the flag was high ... The banner mentioned here was used to attract customers. When it belongs to banner advertising, it can be seen that this form has appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Li Bai, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, was the first to advertise poetry: lanling wine tulip, and the jade bowl was full of amber light. But I got the host drunk and didn't know where it was. This poem and the advertisement of wine have become eternal quatrains.
In fact, the early celebrity advertising endorsement was Wang Xizhi, a great calligrapher in Jin Dynasty, who spoke with his own calligraphy. There are historical records: once, Wang Xizhi saw an old woman selling bamboo fans in a collection. That kind of bamboo fan is very simple, has no decoration, can't attract people's interest and can't be sold. The old woman was very worried. Wang Xizhi was sympathetic, so he went up to her and said, Of course, this kind of bamboo fan without pictures or words can't be sold. How about I write you an inscription? The old woman doesn't know Wang Xizhi. Seeing his enthusiasm, she wrote him a bamboo fan.
Wang Xizhi took a pen, wrote a few words on each fan, and then returned it to the old woman. The old woman can't read, and she feels that his handwriting is scrawled, so she is very unhappy. Wang Xizhi comforted her and said, don't worry. You only tell the person who bought the fan that it was written by Wang Youjun. The old woman did as he said. Collectors rushed to buy Wang Youjun's calligraphy after seeing it. A basket of bamboo fans soon sold out.
Wang Xizhi's advertising endorsement is not only free of charge, but also means helping the poor.
Su Shi did the same thing many times in Song Dynasty. Zhuang Chuo's "Chicken Ribs" in the Southern Song Dynasty contains: At that time, Su Shi was frustrated in officialdom and was demoted to Hainan Island. He happened to meet an old woman who sold jiaozi and was worried because of poor business. Su Shi sympathized with the situation of the old woman and happily wrote an advertisement poem for the old woman: Jade color hands are rubbed evenly, jade oil is tender yellow. At night, spring warmth knows the weight, crushing the beauty, and wrapping the arm with gold.
With accurate description and rich imagination, the poem depicts the uniform, bright and crisp features of prickly heat and the image that looks like a beauty ring, how can it not be exciting? The old lady got these four poems and posted them on the door, which really became a living advertisement. The old lady's prickly heat powder shop immediately filled with customers, doubled her income and solved the problem of food and clothing for the whole family. Su Shi is probably the first person who can actively use poetry to sell goods.
In addition, Su Shi also wrote an advertisement poem, which was a famous wine brewed by Shuanggou in Jiangsu, and was given to him by his close friend Zhang Zhijun after he crossed the Huaihe River. After the poet tasted it, he immediately wrote a poem praising the wine: a cold inkstone wants a book to freeze first, but a lonely lamp cannot make a candle into a flower. Your prince made his wife laugh at the midnight snack.
There were also many people who used couplets to endorse advertisements in ancient times, one of whom was Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Chen Yunzhan's Miscellaneous Notes on Mao Yunlou in Qing Dynasty contains: On New Year's Eve, Zhu Yuanzhang issued a decree requiring all officials and people in Jinling Imperial City to post Spring Festival couplets to celebrate the Spring Festival. He also went to the streets incognito and found that one family didn't post Spring Festival couplets. I didn't know it was a castrated pig until I asked. Business is bad, and I can't read, so I can't afford others to write couplets. So Zhu Yuanzhang wrote him a couplet: split the road of life and death with both hands and cut off the root of right and wrong with one knife. Obviously, this couplet was humorous and attracted the neighbors to watch, and as a result, it directly advertised for his family.
According to historical records, there was a father-daughter hotel near West Lake in Hangzhou during Hongzhi period of Ming Dynasty. Due to poor management and depressed business, the father and daughter are in trouble. This spring, the famous calligrapher Zhu Zhishan returned from a visit to the West Lake. After drinking in the shop, he asked the reason and wrote a couplet: I don't care about the east, I care about the wine; Ups and downs, please stop drinking. These two lines of Chinese characters have caused a sensation in urban and rural areas, and audiences are constantly watching them every day. Since then, the hotel business has gradually prospered.
According to legend, one year in the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong made a private visit and saw a restaurant called Tianranju in a remote alley in Beijing. Gan Long, who likes to write poems and couplets, is very popular. He wrote a couplet on the signboard: A guest lives in a natural place, but he is actually a guest in the sky. However, the struggle for the next alliance ended without results. Just when he had a big headache, Ji Xiaolan made a struggle for the next alliance: people crossed the Great Buddha Temple, but the Buddha Temple was bigger than others. This couplet actually gave a free advertisement to Tianranju Hotel, which was full for some time and the business was booming.
In fact, the so-called celebrity endorsement advertisements in ancient times are mostly exquisite works of adults who are readily available and improvise. They have no interest disputes and no desire to return. Some people are kind and love the people, so they have these stories. Therefore, it is still talked about by people.