Carvspianoan independent magazine about media, advertising and viral experiments

An independent magazine about media and advertising. This is not the website of any brand, agency or advertising campaign that may previously have used this domain.

History

History

The spectacular videos that spread across social media today grew out of the long history of the moving image. First, audiences paid to see films; then advertising arrived on television; next, the industry created its own festivals; and finally, video platforms put distribution in the hands of viewers themselves. Below is a brief timeline and a few observations on what links these stages.

Every new screen first amazed people on its own and then became a place for advertising. The medium changes, but the urge to surprise the viewer remains.

— From the editors

Timeline

  1. 1895

    On 28 December in Paris, the Lumière brothers hold one of the first paid public film screenings.

  2. 1941

    On 1 July in the United States, one of the first officially paid television commercials airs — an advertisement for Bulova watches on New York station WNBT.

  3. 1954

    The festival now known as Cannes Lions is founded. At the time it was called the International Advertising Film Festival; the first edition was held in Venice, modelled on the Cannes Film Festival.

  4. Late 1990s

    The festival introduces the Cyber Lions category for work in the digital space.

  5. 2005

    YouTube launches. The platform turned "viral" videos into a mass phenomenon: viewers themselves began spreading videos.

  6. 2017

    The Cyber Lions category is discontinued as part of a restructuring of the festival's categories.

From the film screening to the video in your feed

The first film screenings showed simple scenes from everyday life, and audiences were amazed by the very fact of movement on screen. Even then it was clear that the moving image could hold attention better than a poster or a newspaper ad. Advertising soon took advantage of this.

With the arrival of television, the commercial became part of the evening at home. It had to fit into a short slot of airtime and make sure the viewer remembered the brand. Many techniques we still see today grew out of this: a short storyline, a memorable image, a clear payoff.

As the industry grew, professional festivals emerged where work was compared and awarded. Video platforms then changed the most important thing: a video is no longer limited by airtime, and its fate is decided by viewers who share it with one another. Spectacular on-camera experiments became one of the most visible genres of this new environment.

  • Events

    Advertising industry festivals, conferences and awards: how they work and how to verify an award.

  • Articles

    Magazine topics: spectacle advertising, on-camera experiments, media literacy, festivals, professions and history. Plus the article catalogue.

  • Archive

    The magazine's sections and what is known about this domain's earlier content.

Sources

  • Institut Lumière
  • Smithsonian / Library of Congress (history of TV advertising)
  • Cannes Lions — official festival history
  • Encyclopedic sources on media history

Historical information is based on publicly available official and encyclopedic sources. Festival rules, categories and entry conditions change — check them on the organisers' official websites.