Medical Advertising

Tyler Williams

HIST1701: The Medical Experience

November 28, 2022

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Medical Advertising

Proper marketing and advertising of a product play a pivotal role in a businesses’ success.

Without advertising, companies would fail due to the lack of people who are aware of a product1.

In more modern times, advertising can be done very quickly and efficiently through the internet;

however, before the invention of the internet and other digital technologies, advertising was

much harder. Companies relied on catalogues, much like the catalogues you would receive

around Christmas time from Sears before they went out of business2. Within the catalogues,

companies would brand their products with particular signature bottles or wax3. Newspaper ads

also played a vital role in the advertising of medical products. These techniques were prevalent

in the eighteenth century and early nineteenth century medical economy. Although catalogues

and newspaper ads were the most popular techniques used, many people of an understanding that

these techniques did not work and were just a waste of time. Advertising techniques such as

catalogues, branded products, and newspaper ads played a vital role in the advertising of medical

products during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries because of their ability to create mass

communication between people, were easily recognizable between towns, and would eventually

stop companies from lying about their products.

Using a newspaper cut out from The Herald in 1863, you can see how companies would

go about creating ads4. This particular ad takes just over two total pages, which in today’s age

would be more of a small article than an ad, and primarily consists of the ethos of the creator of

1
Gunter, Barrie. 2019. Gambling Advertising : Nature, Effects and Regulation (version First edition.) First ed.
Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited
2
Barker, Hannah. “Medical Advertising and Trust in Late Georgian England.” Urban History 36, no. 3 (2009): 379–
98.
3
Barker, Hannah. 2009
4
Royal College of Physicians of London. 1866. “Newspaper Cutting [from The Herald] Advertising Dr. Thomas’
Qualifications and Experience.” College Legal Status. Wiley Digital Archives: The Royal College of Physicians - Part II.
August 10, 1866.
 2

the product.5 Furthermore, it takes to the penultimate sentence to even find out what the ad is

trying to advertise, which in this case is the services of Dr. Thomas.6 The ad gets its two-page

length from showing the reader all of Dr. Thomas's career achievements. For example, “On the

18th November, 1863, Dr. Thomas obtained first prize and first chair at the Senior Medical

Collage”.7 A further three paragraphs state things similar to the one discussed, but with slight

changes in the awards given. These types of ads were widespread during the eighteenth to

nineteenth centuries, with many companies opting to attempt to sell themselves rather than their

products.

Without extensive research and analysis of all medical records produced at the time of the

newspaper article, it is impossible to know whether these awards are real. Due to the lack of

professionalization in the field during the time, it was elementary and quite common for people

to lie completely about their product or background.8 Though it is not the best practice, and many

would think of it as morally wrong, it did allow companies to create competitive advantages over

medical companies. Additionally, newspapers needed the ads to make a profit, making it

relatively easy to get something published; with no peer-reviewed process in place, the ads could

say anything they wanted to.9 It acted like a win-win scenario with the companies getting their

ads posted and products becoming more known, and newspaper companies getting the money

they need from ad revenue.

Since newspapers were one of the only forms of mass communication, it made sense for

those wanting their product displayed to use newspapers. During these times, newspapers were

5
The Herald, 1866
6
The Herald, 1866
7
The Herald, 1866
8
Barker Hannah, 2009
9
Gasher, Mike, David Skinner and Rowland Lorimer. “Chapter Four: Media Content: Studying the Making of
Meaning” in Mass Communication in Canada (Eighth Edition). Oxford University Press: Don Mills, Ont., 2016, p 88 –
118.
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much more extensive than newspapers today, which left tons of space for ads.10 Newspapers

would commonly leave one-quarter to one-third of the newspaper just for ads. Unlike today,

where an advertisement would be off to the side of an article or stuck sandwiched between

stories, newspaper ads would fill entire pages.11 Oddly, the same ad could be seen in the

newspaper for up to five editions in a row (at this time, newspapers were not daily but were done

weekly or semi-weekly, depending on the town's size).12

The format of the ads are lacking complexity because they rely heavily on the use of the

royal family instead of using other methods to sell the customer on the product.13 In 1760, data

showed that one in three products would indicate that a royal family member used the product.14

Most likely, many of these claims were false; however, people looked up to the royal family and

would trust anything they used or even just mentioned their name. Other claims that were made

were that the medicine was made by “medical men” or would claim a “never failing cure for the

itch”.15 Companies that made false claims created an unprofessional medical sphere because it

allowed anyone to create a product, claim untrue things, and still have people believe them and

buy their product.

Those outside the medical profession began trying to sell their “quack” medicines or their

professional services.16 “Quack” medicine is when someone without any knowledge of medicine

creates a product that will do nothing for you (someone's case would cause more harm than

10
Barker Hannah, 2009
11
The Herald, 1863
12
Leong, E., Pennell, S. Recipe Collections and the Currency of Medical Knowledge in the Early Modern ‘Medical
Marketplace’. In: Jenner, M.S.R., Wallis, P. (eds) Medicine and the Market in England and its Colonies, c. (2007).
1450–c. 1850. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
13
Barker Hannah, 2009
14
Barker Hannah, 2009
15
De Scisciolo, Stephany, and Scheid, Teresa L.. Reducing Race Differences in Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical
Advertising : The Case for Regulation. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2018.
16
Helm, David P. “Doctors, Druggists and Patients: The End of the Medical Marketplace in Mid-Nineteenth-Century
Gloucester.” 2018. Midland History. 2018
 4

good) and sells it as a “cure-all” drug.17 These medications appealed to the general public

because they seemed like an easy and cheap way to get the healthy life they wanted. Working in

favour of the quack medicine was the fact that during these times, trust was very quickly gained,

and in most cases, the way someone dressed or even talked was enough for people to trust

them.18

A story that indeed shows how bad quack medicine was in the late 18th century is the

story about Sarson vs Roberts. Mr. Roberts had been renting out his old beaten-down cabin in the

woods to people looking for a place to cure all illnesses that bothered them.19 Mr. Sarson

believed this man and brought his entire family to the cabin. For some extra context, this cabin

was just about twenty kilometres away from their home. When at the house, the family of four

became very ill, and upon return to their family home, the whole family, besides Mr. Sarson, had

died.20 Upon further examination of the now-deceased family, doctors found they had all died

from a rare lung disease.21 Enraged by the turn of events, Mr. Sarson sued Roberts for the

emotional damages he had caused him.22 This case is now considered a turning point in medical

law, as it marked one of the first times the accuser won a case about deceiving medical claims.

As news of the case circled England, companies became nervous about continuing to sell

products with false claims.

As communication between villages became more popular in the early 19th century,

companies began to remove the claims of royal family usage and other false claims. From

analyzation of 1820 newspapers, only three percent of companies were still making royal family

17
David Helm, 2018
18
David Helm, 2018
19
“Sarson v Roberts - Viewing Document - ICLR.” 2022. Iclr.co.uk. 2022.
https://www.iclr.co.uk/document/1890620148/casereport_10109/html.
20
ICLR, 2022
21
ICLR, 2022
22
ICLR, 2022
 5

claims.23 Historians believe this significant drop-off is from the rise in mass communication.24

This drop-off can only be seen as a positive because people could no longer quickly sell

fraudulent products to the public. Such changes had huge implications on medical adverting

because almost all companies had stopped or were beginning to stop using false claims, which in

turn created a more professional medical market. With such a significant advertising change,

companies needed a new technique to use, which allowed for the rise of branding.

Once communication between towns became easier, companies wanted to make sure

their product could be recognizable; therefore, they began to use “uniquely shaped or embossed

bottle, a particular form of wax seal or the appearance of a specific name or signature on the

bottle or container”.25 A unique benefit of exclusive bottles was that it became much harder to

counterfeit the product, which was a huge problem during this time. Such a problem that citizens

could buy what they thought was the same product, but in reality, it was something completely

different that had no benefits to your body. The more important advantage was that brand names

could be spread through word of mouth from the population. This form of advertising played a

significant role in the latter half of the nineteenth century and became by far the most popular

advertising technique used across the world.26 It was assumed that people would also pay a

higher price for a product because they thought branded products would have a higher level of

consistency, though this is highly debatable. 27

With brands becoming popular and technology advancing to allow for higher-quality

printing, companies believed that catalogues were the next best way to advertise. Catalogues

were a magazine-like book, but instead of pictures of random celebrities, it would be the product

23
Barker Hannah, 2009
24
Barker Hannah, 2009
25
Barker Hannah, 2009
26
Gunter Barrie, 2019
27
Barker Hannah, 2009
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companies were trying to sell. Catalogues would be handed out to anyone that wants one;

however, once companies become more knowledgeable, they would send them to previous

customers or elite medical professionals in the area.28 Within the catalogue would be up to 600

pages of ads for medical services and, more commonly, medical products that could be used for

surgeries, among other things.29 Research shows that catalogues hugely impacted goods sales,

with some historians estimating that around sixty percent of sales come from catalogues.30 It is

important to note that catalogues offered a unique mailing service that allowed potential buyers

to send a letter with the product they wanted straight to the company to allow contactless

shopping.31

Though catalogues were seen as a significant advancement in advertising, there were

many failures in the system. One such loss was that people could use these catalogues to create

products to sell based on the description in the catalogue.32 To explain, members of the

community outside the medical sphere would directly copy or change one to two features of a

product seen in the catalogue and then sell their reimagined product to customers. Such

shenanigans do not seem too hurtful; however, they created an environment where significantly

few people created new innovative products that would help the medical profession. This could

result in a stagnant market with companies totally forgetting to be creative.

Even with the negatively around catalogues, companies still did do a great job of

advertising products especially once they started being sent to medical professionals. Only

sending catalogues to medical professionals made it harder for people outside the medical sphere

28
Jones, Claire L. "(Re-)Reading Medical Trade Catalogs: The Uses of Professional Advertising in British Medical
Practice, 1870–1914." Bulletin of the History of Medicine 86, no. 3 (2012): 361-393.
29
Jones Claire L, 2012
30
Jones Claire L, 2012
31
Jones Claire L, 2012
32
Jones Claire L, 2012
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find copies, which resulted in fewer lateral products being made.33 These changes in delivery

method actual created a positive marketplace, with tons of new products being made that

increased functional from previous models. Catalogues could also enhance the ability to connect

with other members of the medical sphere, and so, collaboration became more common. There

are records that at least six major hospitals in England had purchased goods from a catalogue on

more than just occasion.34

Overall, advertising played a huge role in the success of a company during the eighteenth

and nineteenth century. Newspaper were one of the only forms of mass communication,

therefore, businesses would use newspapers to advertise their products or services.

Unfortunately, someone ads were created to deceive the public by stating false claims about the

true nature of their products. Common false claims were that the royal family used the product,

and that the product could cure all illness. As the reliance on advertising significantly increased

in the late eighteenth century, companies began to realize the necessity to be more truthful with

regards to product advertisements, or severe consequences would likely backfire directly onto

the company image. The introduction of catalogues created a new way for companies to interact

with customers and allowed for contactless shopping. Throughout the evolution of medical

advertising during the eighteenth and nineteenth century, advertising continued to play a vital

role in the evolution and success of medical fields, which in turn, created a safer environment for

the public citizens to purchase medicine safely, without the associated risks of fraudulency from

untrustworthy sellers.

33
Jones Claire L, 2012
34
Jones Claire L, 2012
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Bibliography
Primary Source:
Royal College of Physicians of London. 1866. “Newspaper Cutting [from The Herald]
Advertising Dr. Thomas’ Qualifications and Experience.” College Legal Status. Wiley
Digital Archives: The Royal College of Physicians - Part II. August 10, 1866.
http://WDAgo.com/s/25ca4042.
Secondary Source:
Barker, Hannah. “Medical Advertising and Trust in Late Georgian England.” Urban History 36,
no. 3 (2009): 379–98.
 9

Crawley. L. M, Hisaw, L. and Illes, J. Direct-to-consumer advertising in black and white: Racial
differences in placement patters of print advertisements for health products and messages.
Health Marketing Quarterly, (2009). 26, 279-92.
De Scisciolo, Stephany, and Scheid, Teresa L.. Reducing Race Differences in Direct-to-
Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising : The Case for Regulation. Lanham: Lexington
Books, 2018.
Gasher, Mike, David Skinner and Rowland Lorimer. “Chapter Four: Media Content: Studying
the Making of Meaning” in Mass Communication in Canada (Eighth Edition). Oxford
University Press: Don Mills, Ont., 2016, p 88 – 118.
Helm, David P. “Doctors, Druggists and Patients: The End of the Medical Marketplace in Mid-
Nineteenth-Century Gloucester.” 2018. Midland History. 2018.
Gunter, Barrie. 2019. Gambling Advertising : Nature, Effects and Regulation (version First
edition.) First ed. Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited
Jones, Claire L. "(Re-)Reading Medical Trade Catalogs: The Uses of Professional Advertising in
British Medical Practice, 1870–1914." Bulletin of the History of Medicine 86, no. 3
(2012): 361-393.
“Sarson v Roberts - Viewing Document - ICLR.” 2022. Iclr.co.uk. 2022.
https://www.iclr.co.uk/document/1890620148/casereport_10109/html.
Leong, E., Pennell, S. Recipe Collections and the Currency of Medical Knowledge in the Early
Modern ‘Medical Marketplace’. In: Jenner, M.S.R., Wallis, P. (eds) Medicine and the
Market in England and its Colonies, c. (2007). 1450–c. 1850. Palgrave Macmillan,
London.