| During the
1920s and the era of silent movies, animated commercials started
being projected at the cinema Palladium in Stockholm. However,
the very first commercial film produced in Sweden, was Kal
Napoleons bonntur [Sheer luck of Kal Napoleon] from 1915,
starring Sigurd Wallén. Having won lots of money on a lottery,
this gentleman went out shopping around Stockholm, with each and
every item that he bought, carefully displayed with trademarks
and all.
In the
database "Reel History" there are more than a hundred Swedish
commercials, from early black and white animations to
commercials in colour from the 1950s. In parallel with the growth
of the cinema industry, one can also witness an expansion of the
film media as a commercial communication channel. Towards the
middle of the 1950s there were a great many commercials being
produced for cinemas. Even demon director Ingmar Bergman
directed a few commercials advertising the soap "Bris".
The
borders between commercials and informative, educational film
is, however, not always easy to uphold. The latter category was
usually considerably longer, but the "housewife films" of the
1950s, were also fairly extensive, containing both cooking tips,
as well as advertisements for particular utensils.
The
commercial film to the left, Flytande frukt
[Fluid Fruit] from 1954, was for example a sort of "housewife film", produced
by an association devoted to non-alcoholic education. Alcohol
was banned in the film. Instead it tried to inform about and
advertise the consumption of fruit juices. |
