Is there a shelf life for an advertisement? Well, it depends. 1 year, 2 years, 5 years…or, about 40 years? Well, The Guardian has an interesting story about a newspaper ad, which is probably the longest-running ad in newspaper history.
This advertisement for an English speaking and writing class at a college in Cheshire has a curious history of interesting twists and turns. The advertisement resembled a typical newspaper article with headlines like “Shamed by your English?” “Does your English let you down?” , Or “Why are you shamed by your English?” though variations have been experimented with the headline, the text almost remained unaltered.
But the most important thing is that the advert carried the portrait of a man named Derek Derbyshire. He later became an accountant and when he died after 37 years later, The Daily Telegraph printed an obituary, saying that that his face had appeared on their front page more often than the Queen, Tony Blair, “or even Posh Spice”.
The advert still continues to appear in newspapers. The advertisers say that though they have experimented with other ads, none were so effective like this one.
