To mark The New York Times' 175th birthday last month, New York Times Advertising (NYTA) launched a campaign showcasing nine historic advertisements from long-standing brand partners. NYTA's campaign centered on a nine-page print spread on September 18 and a digital experience.
"It's this evolution of storytelling that came about within advertising," said Tusar Barik, senior vice president of marketing at NYTA. "[The campaign] felt like a really great opportunity to do that and work with these partners that we've worked with for decades, if not centuries."
Barik celebrated how the campaign showcased the history of the media institution, the trajectory of the advertising industry, and how advertisers have enabled independent journalism for nearly 200 years.
The campaign encapsulates different eras in through advertisements, including:
Barik said NYTA reviewed hundreds of potential advertisements before narrowing down to the featured partners. The selection criteria focused on cultural and historical significance rather than purely business relationships.
"We tried to find the ones that culturally and historically were relevant," he said. "Ideally, we still had long-standing partnerships with, but really wanted to make sure the story was there because ultimately, you know, brands come and go."
The campaign itself serves as a case study in brand storytelling, demonstrating that longevity in advertising partnerships stems from cultural resonance rather than transactional relationships. Each selected advertisement represents a moment when brands connected with broader societal shifts.
The visual timeline in the digital experience reveals dramatic shifts in how consumers process advertising content. Early advertisements featured dense blocks of text, like the 1851 Tiffany ad. By the early 1900s, illustrations appeared in ads like Ford's.
"The evolution of the format that is advertising over that time is pretty interesting and the visualization and how we as consumers consume things differently," said Barik. "We found one of the first ads we ran with Tiffany's in 1851. And it's literally this block of text. It looks like an article."
The Times' own content has transformed from print-only text to incorporating photography, data visualization, audio through The Daily podcast, and video content. While formats have transformed dramatically, Barik said the fundamental importance of narrative has remained unchanged across 175 years of advertising.
"The thing that never changes is the importance of storytelling," he said. "If you're not telling a story that's relevant, however you tell that story, whether it be printed word, audio, text, video, social, whatever, the story still has to be there."
When asked which recent advertisements might be featured in a 350-year anniversary campaign, Barik highlighted several themes like democratizing technology access, luxury lifestyle content, and partnerships that open paywalled content to broader audiences.
"Now more than ever, when things get more expensive and trying to make sure that people have accessed information, we are working with brands to help enable that for people," he said.
Future advertising success may depend on brands helping solve access and equity challenges rather than purely promoting products. Campaigns that democratize experiences or information could define the next era of brand storytelling.
For Barik, the campaign also demonstrates how advertising partnerships have helped support the Times' journalism mission across nearly two centuries.
"We always refer to ourselves as a solar system and news will always be the core of that solar system" he said. "What these advertisers and partners have helped us do is really fund independent journalism…Every partner we've had over 175 years helped make this possible."
For NYTA, the legacy of advertising and the legacy of the media giant's journalism are intricately tied together. And as the news landscape grows more complex, the value of advertising increases.
"The reality is, now more than ever, that independent journalism is super important. We see that with what's happening every day for democracy and for the world," said Barik. "The importance of having editors, fact checkers, being able to have the infrastructure that the New York Times is privileged to have, that's all possible because we have subscribers, but also we have advertisers who help fund a lot of that as well."
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