Film Advertising in the Albanian Press before World War II

• Author: Vjollca Hysi Panajoti, Mirdaim Axhami, Loreta Zela Axhami
• Pages: 625-630

Interdisciplinary Dimensions of Communication Science

625

Film Advertising in the Albanian Press before World War II

Vjollca Hysi Panajoti1, Mirdaim Axhami2, Loreta Zela Axhami3

Abstract: This paper aims at studying the development of film advertising in the 1930’s Albanian press.

Through advertising we struggle to read a piece of the Albanian monarchy’s history. Considering

advertising as a historical source tends to reflect the economic, social and cultural life of the country. The

study focused o n the features, characteristics and uniqueness of advertising the films in relation to other

ads present in print. Who were the people who created the ads, how does the Albanian press film

advertising compare to advertising in the foreign press and what were th e difficulties facing advertising at

this time, are the other important issues addressed in this study. Over a century has passed since Harper's

Weekly wrote that 'advertisements are a reflection of real life, a kind of fossil by which chroniclers can

rewrite history in order to complete the graphic, even if all other historical evidence may have

disappeared4.

Keywords: film advertising; Albanian press; history

1. Methodology

The completion of this study is based on official documents of the time, the primary data collected

from the survey and press search of the 30s as well as interviews with historians and actors of this

period. The selection of newspapers and magazines in the study is done based on the duration and

frequency selection criterion, since it is difficult to find accurate data on circulation and sales. To carry

out this study we were also supported by previous work in this area by Albanian and foreign authors.

Notwithstanding personal taste we are surrounded by advertising today. The origins of advertising

have become apparent with the first traces of human social life and interaction. A unique display of

advertising is apparent in the primitive human who hauled hunting surpluses and displayed them to his

peers in order to exchange them with other items. In antiquity we are presented with a full array of

signs and symbols that replaced early displays with a more sophisticated advertising language.

The evolution and development of the history of advertising is interrelated to economic, social and

cultural advances of society, an evolution that has owed its recent rapid development to the advances

in the field of media technology. The Guttenberg’s printing press, one of the most important

inventions of the fifteenth century, gave another dimension to advertising. G The press was the most

1 Faculty of Economy, Tirana University, Marketing Department, Albania, Address: Mother Teresa Square, Tirana, Albania,

Tel.: +355 4 222 7996, Corresponding author: vjollcapanajoti@feut.edu.al.

2 Faculty of Economy, Tirana University, Marketing Department, Address: Mother Teresa Square, Tirana, Albania, Tel.:

+355 4 222 7996, E-mail: mirdaimaxhami@yahoo.com.

3 Faculty of History and Philology, Tirana University, Communication and Journalism Department, Address: Mother Teresa

Square, Tirana, Albania, Tel.: +355 4 222 7996, E-mail: loretazela@yahoo.com.

4 Located at http://historymatters.gmu.edu.