How can I teach myself the basics of advertising?

Watch Mad Men for tips on the art of advertising. :-)

Can you do a short internship in a local advertising agency? I had a boyfriend for a while who worked for a NYC agency and was on the script-writing and idea team. It was exhausting and stressful.

I think @gailcalled‘s idea is pretty good. As an English major, I think you might be able to find an internship with an advertising agency, particularly if you are interested in copy writing. Check online and with your college, to see if there might be internship opportunities available in your area.

There are also lots of books you could read. Go down to your local library or check out your local university library. It will help you to learn the language and key elements so when you do ask for that internship, you can speak the lingo or at least understand what they are saying to you.

@chyna… as much as I love that show, I think I need to learn a bit more about the current field. thanks :)

The other thing you could do is speak to someone in your college/university who teaches advertising and ask them about texts they use in their courses. They should be using up-to-date books. They may also be able to point you in the direction of other resources you can draw on. Armed with the information you are reading, I would suggest trying to analyse contemporary examples of advertising campaigns. It will give you something to talk about while you work.

There is a program over here that looks at advertising and PR. It is called The Gruen Transfer. I am pretty sure you could find it (or excerpts from it) on You Tube. There is a panel of advertisers who talk about different campaigns from around the world. It is funny but actually quite informative too.

Classroom for the theory, internship for the practice.

Only watch mad men if you want to learn how advertising used to be. I suggest picking up a book on branding.

Library books are your best source.

I used to write copy for some big advertising firms many years ago. My goal was to be employed by a big advertising firm in New York. This never happened.

Writing copy takes talent. Your ideas have to come from the inner lobes of your brain and have to be accurate and catchy.

Again, you should know the library is a great learning source, especially for commercial advertising.