Advertising is the practice of calling the attention of the public to goods or services. The attention is drawn by a variety of media forms. Advertising is part of an overall strategy which includes publicity, sales promotion, personal selling and public relations.

Originally, almost all advertising occurred by passing along information from one person to the next, although written commercial messages and political campaign information have been found in Pompeii ruins. The Eqyptians created commercial messages on papyrus, as did the Greeks and Romans. A slightly more permanent form of advertising is the wall or rock paintings found in parts of Asia, South America and Africa, some as old as 6000 years.

During the middle ages, with the development of the printing press, advertising became more common in the form of handbills which were printed and widely distributed. Newspapers were originated and grew in popularity. By the 17th century, advertisements began to be routinely found in England's weekly newspapers. Early newspaper ads were mostly to market books. Books were experiencing a surge of popularity, thanks to being more readily available because of the printing press. Medicines were also widely advertised, mainly because of so much disease in Europe. Because of false advertising, it was about this time that advertising content began to be regulated.

With expanding economy during the nineteenth century, advertising needs grew as well. People were able to purchase more goods and services, and advertising was the method used to publicize the goods and services. Classified advertisements became popular, particularly in the United States, often with many pages of daily newspapers filled with small print ads. Classified advertising gradually became a separate medium with the advent of mail-order catalogs. At one time, the Sears Catalog was referred to by the moniker ''The Farmer's Bible”.

By the mid 1800s the nation's first advertising agency was formed by Volney Palmer in Philadelphia. The role of the advertising agency was originally just to sell ad space in the newspapers, but over the following 50 years, the agencies began to prepare and present advertisement content as well.

The mid years of the 20th century began to see advertising more as a scientific approach. Creativity was encouraged and produced messages which made the product more appealing in the eyes of the consumer. The move to associate brand names with characteristics such as Volkswagen's ''Think Small” ad became popular.

MTV was another new concept in advertising. The consumer tunes in for the purpose of listening to the advertisement. The advertisement was no longer an afterthought designed to fit into and pay for the real entertainment. Increasingly, advertisements were entertainment leading to the establishment of entire channels devoted to selling.

The wave of the future is uncertain, new methods and mediums of advertising are constantly being developed. One thing is certain, that being the increase of technology and the widespread use of the internet will fundamentally change advertising as we have known it in the past.