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  1. Dartmouth Libraries
  2. Research Guides
  3. Dartmouth Libraries Guides
  4. Television Studies
  5. TV advertising

Television Studies

This guide is an introduction to library and internet resources for Television Studies.
  • Introduction
  • TV courses
  • Introductory resources
  • Finding books about television
  • Finding television shows
  • Journals & magazines about television
  • History of television
  • Censorship
  • TV criticism
  • TV theory
  • Writing for television
  • Television adaptations
    • Shakespeare on television
  • TV ratings
  • TV audiences
  • TV advertising
  • TV reviews
  • TV genres This link opens in a new window
  • Quality television
  • Children's television
  • Sports on TV
  • Racial & ethnic representation on TV
    • African American diaspora
    • Asian American diaspora
    • Hispanic American diaspora
    • Native American & Indigenous diaspora
  • Women on/in/creating Television
    • Examples of women on television
  • LGBTQIA+
    • Examples of LGBTQIA+ on television
  • Television broadcasting & networks
  • Global television
  • Television in Europe
  • Chinese television
  • Spanish language TV
  • Public access television
  • Television news
  • Mass media industry
  • Transcripts
  • Television through the decades
    • 1950's Television & Earlier
    • 1960's Television
    • 1970's Television
    • 1980's Television
    • 1990's Television
    • 2000's Television
    • 2010's Television
  • Streaming television
  • Streaming film services
  • Internet resources
  • Future of Media
  • Back to Film & Media Studies
  • Scholarly communication This link opens in a new window
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A short introduction

This page looks at Television Advertising. For more resources on Advertising, click here.

In the Library's Collections

The main call number range for Television Advertising is HF 6146. Most of these should be in Baker-Berry Library. Check the online catalog for specific locations.

Useful subject headings with which to search the online catalog:

  • television advertising
  • television advertising and children
  • television commercials
  • communication in marketing
  • consumer behavior
    Consumer behavior is used for works about the decision-making processes, external factors, and individual characteristics of consumers that determine their purchasing behavior.

Introductory reading(s)

  • Cover art The Advertising Age encyclopedia of advertising by John McDonough; Karen Egolf
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry HF 5803 .A38 2003 v.1-3
    ISBN: 9781579581725
    Featuring nearly 600 extensively illustrated entries, The Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising provides detailed historic surveys of the world's leading agencies and major advertisers, as well as brand and market histories; it also profiles the influential men and women in advertising, overviews advertising in the major countries of the world, covers important issues affecting the field, and discusses the key aspects of methodology, practice, strategy, and theory. ...
  • Cover art Brought to you by: postwar television advertising and the American dream by Lawrence R. Samuel
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry HF 6146 .T42 S25 2001
    ISBN: 9780292777637
    This book is a history of how television advertising rose to become a defining force in American culture in the two decades after World War II.
  • Cover art Advertising in the Encyclopedia of international media and communications by Donald H. Johnston, ed.
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9780123876706
    This encyclopedia contains different articles on advertising.
  • Cover art The sponsored life: ads, TV, and American culture by Leslie Savan
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry HF 6146 .T42 S26 1994
    ISBN: 9781566392457
    How does blatant lying in TV commercials like Joe Isuzu's manic claims create public trust in a product or a company? How does a company associated with a disaster, Exxon or Du Pont for example, restore its reputation? What is the real story behind the rendering of the now infamous Joe Camel? And what is the deeper meaning of living in an ad, ad, ad world? For a decade, journalist Leslie Savan has been exposing the techniques used by advertisers to push products and pump up corporate images. In the lively essays in this collection, Savan penetrates beneath the slick surfaces of specific ads and marketing campaigns to show how they reflect and shape consumer desires. ...

Selected book titles

  • Cover art Ads to icons: how advertising succeeds in a multimedia age by Paul Springer
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry HF 5823 .S76 2009
    ISBN: 9780749456474
    Publication Date: 2nd ed.
    The second edition of Ads to Icons examines current and future trends in advertising. Through 50 updated international case studies of new and iconic advertising campaigns, Paul Springer identifies why they were successful and analyses their contribution to the continued development of advertising. New digital formats analysed include Google's AdSense and AdWords, which reworked their search facility as a revenue-generating advertising service. ...
  • Cover art Analyzing music in advertising: television commercials and consumer choice by Nicolai Graakjaer
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry ML 3790 .G676 2015
    ISBN: 9781138781085
    The study of music in commercials is well-suited for exploring the persuasive impact that music has beyond the ability to entertain, edify, and purify its audience. This book focuses on music in commercials from an interpretive text analytical perspective, answering hitherto neglected questions: What characterizes music in commercials compared to other commercial music and other music on TV? ...
  • Cover art Consuming reality: the commercialization of factual entertainment by June Deery
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry HF 6146 .T42 D44 2012
    ISBN: 9780230379961
    Consuming Reality examines TV's response to the increasing pressure to brand content in a post-advertising era. June Deery's comprehensive analysis of the commercial practices found in popular reality programming reveals links to larger trends such as the sentimental dissemination of capitalist and nationalist ideologies, the professionalization of social relationships (including conceptions of self), and the mainstreaming of PR techniques in everyday life.

Advertising on television

These programs and films have Advertising as an integral part of the story line. To see more of Advertising in movies and television, click here.

  • Television poster art Mad men. Season one by Matthew Weiner
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #7279 discs 1 - 4
    In the glamorous and ego-driven world of advertising, everyone is selling something and nothing is ever what it seems. Set in 1960 New York, this series reveals the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue's "Golden Age," where key players make an art of the sell while their private world gets sold. And no one plays the game better than Don Draper, the biggest ad man--and ladies' man--in the business.
  • Television poster art Mad men. Season two by Matthew Weiner
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #8790 discs 1 - 4
    Returning for its second season, the Golden Globe winning series for Best TV Drama continues to blur the lines between truth and lies, perception and reality. Moving in a new direction, can Sterling Cooper keep up? Meanwhile, the private life of Don Draper becomes complicated in a new way. What is the cost of his secret identity?
  • Television poster art Thirtysomething. The complete first season
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #8955 discs 1 - 6
    Living in Philadelphia, married thirtysomething couple, Hope and Michael are struggling with everyday adult angst. Michael runs an ad agency with his friend Elliot. Elliot's marriage to Nancy is beginning to show the cracks of age, as is the friendship between Hope and her best friend Ellyn. Michael's best friend, Gary, on the other hand, is trying to get on with his womanising life, and get over the mutually-destructive affair he had with Michael's cousin, Melissa. The domestic and professional lives of a group of young urban professionals living at the height of the Reagan years.

Other library resource(s)

  • Resource logo Ad*Access by the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History
    • Open Access Icon
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    Presents images and database information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Concentrates on five main subject areas: radio, television, transportation, beauty and hygiene, and World War II, providing a view of a number of major campaigns and companies through images preserved in the J. Walter Thompson Company Competitive Advertisements Collection of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History in Duke University's Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.
  • Resource logo Advertising from Oxford Bibliographies Online - Communication by Esther Thorson
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    ISBN: 9780199756841
    Advertising is defined as paid communication from an identified sponsor using mass media to persuade an audience. There are many ways to promote ideas, brands, politicians, or issues, but advertising involves mostly professionally designed commercials (this word implies video) or advertisements (this word implies print or online display advertising). Mass media, such as television, radio, newspapers, and magazines, are paid to carry those messages to their audiences. ...
  • History of advertising: general, 1950-1970 by A2ZCDS.com
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #10039 discs 1-2
    Presents a collection of general advertising ads from movie theatre ads, TV commercials, sky writing and outdoor ads from 1950 - 1970.
  • Cover art The persuaders by Barak Goodman and Rachel Dretzin
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #5181
    ISBN: 9780793646852
    Examines the "persuasion industries" of advertising and public relations. Shows how marketers have developed new ways of integrating their message into the fabric of our lives. Explores how the culture of marketing has come to shape the way Americans understand the world and themselves and how the techniques of the persuasion industries have migrated to politics.
  • Resource logo Televised political advertisements from Oxford Bibliographies Online - Communication by William L. Benoit
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    ISBN: 9780199756841
    The first political television advertisement was run by Senator Benton of Connecticut in 1950. The first presidential TV spots were broadcast two years later, when Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson. These messages have become an extremely important means of communication with voters, particularly for higher-level offices. Billions of dollars are spent on political advertising in America. Obama became the first candidate ever to decline federal funding for the general election campaign, which meant he could spend all he could raise; McCain accepted federal funding, which imposed limits on his spending. ...

Television commercial collections in the library

  • AdViews
    • Video
    • Database
    Call Number: Streaming video
    AdViews is a digital archive of thousands of vintage television commercials dating from the 1950s to the 1980s. These commercials were created or collected by the ad agency Benton & Bowles or its successor, D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B).
  • Cover art Classic commercials: the early years
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #7939 discs 1 - 2
    ISBN: 9780778616115
    Presents a collection of the most memorable ads from the 1950's to the 1970's.
  • Classic TV commercials: what we lusted for
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #9089 discs 1 - 3
    A collection of 276 classic television commercials from 1950-1980.
  • History of advertising: early tv commercials: vol.1 & 2 by A2ZCDS.com
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #12538
    A collection of general advertising ads from movie theatre ads, TV commercials, sky writing and outdoor ads from 1930 to 1970.
  • Hit celebrity TV commercials: a treasury of over 120 classic commercials!
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #5308
    Here is a collection of celebrity commercials, spotlighting the famous from movie stars to sports figures, plus commercials featuring future stars before they skyrocketed to fame.
  • The world's funniest & cleverest commercials by Andrew Solt Productions
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #3299
    The most unforgettable TV commercials from all over the world including Great Britain, France, Brazil, Japan, Australia and Zimbabwe.

Finding articles & journals

We have several publications which look at television advertising. You can also search Film & Television Literature Index, Business Source Ultimate, Communication & Mass Media Complete (CMMC) or Web of Science or use the search box at the top of the page.

  • Journal logo Shoot by BPI Communications
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic journal
    Shoot is the trusted source for news, information, industry trends and the people behind the work in Film, TV, Commercial, Entertainment Production & Post Since 1960.
  • Adweek
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic journal
    We do not have a full subscription to Adweek but you can use Interlibrary Loan to get articles.
  • International journal of advertising by Advertising Association (Great Britain)
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic journal
    The International Journal of Advertising (IJA) publishes original contributions on all aspects of marketing communications from the academic, practitioner and public policy perspectives. ...
  • Resource logo Film & television literature index
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    This index covers over 300 journal and magazine titles for film and television reviews, scholarly and critical analysis of cinema and television, and articles of popular interest about film and television. About half the journals and magazines are film periodicals and the other half cover film and television with some regularity. Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews.
  • Resource logo Business source complete by EBSCO Publishing
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    This index searches a variety of scholarly and popular business publications including the Business of Media.
  • Resource logo Communication & mass media complete (CMMC) by Ebsco
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    This is the main article index for the field of Communications and Mass Media.
  • Resource logo The web of science citation databases by ISI (Institute for Scientific Information)
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    The online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.

Internet resource(s)

  • Broadcasting Yearbook, 1935-2010
    • Link
    The site is a searchable archive of all of the volumes in this annual. The publication ceased in 2010, but is still a valuable resource.
  • Dartmouth College Collection of Television Commercials - LoC
    • Link
    The Dartmouth College Collection of television commercials consists of approximately 500 commercials made by Robert Lawrence Productions during the period of 1952 to 1963. The collection contains commercials that were for distribution in the United States as well as ones for Canadian distribution.
  • Icon Advertising Museum
    • Link
    The official site of the Advertising Icon Museum, the soon-to-be, brand-new home of a whole host of familiar and not-so-familiar characters who were created just for the purpose of advertising — many of whom have taken on a beloved, pop cultural status far beyond their illustrious business careers.
  • John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History
    • Link
    ... Through these collections and related programming, the Center promotes understanding of the social, cultural, and historical impact of advertising, marketing, and sales.

Keeping up with the journal literature

Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for all facets of Communication? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents (ToCs) of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC's you can download and read the articles you want.

You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.

Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's now available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.

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  • Last Updated: Jun 5, 2025 11:59 AM
  • URL: https://researchguides.dartmouth.edu/television
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Subjects: Film and Media Studies
Tags: censorship, children's television, chinese television, global television, humanities, LGBTQIA+, new_media, public-access television, quality television, radio, representation, reviews, sports, television ratings, television theory, tv, tv advertising, tv ratings, women, writing for television

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