Maps in Advertising

As I mentioned in my first post, finding this ad in a magazine really caught my eye:



Obviously, it is not a literal "road map", but the metaphor of a road map is that the customers of this Lexis-Nexis product will be able to find their way through complex information sources, without getting lost. Anyone who has ever used a road map to navigate through unknown territory should be able to relate to this ad, especially if you're the type that doesn't like to ask for directions...

When I saw this ad (1991?) I was not so familiar with the Lexis-Nexis corporation, or Ohio geography. So, I didn't appreciate at the time that they were using an Ohio road map. The floppy disk map includes Dayton where their U.S. corporate headquarters are located.


A map of the world, or a globe, are other common themes for advertising:

I guess it wouldn't be Christmas without a Bacardi drink



Obviously the advertisers are not using the globe as a way to indicate which planet they are on...

CS First Boston is rather transparent in their intentions

Perhaps they want to indicate their "global presence"...

Of course, MCI is now part of Verizon

or that their product is useful to everyone on the planet...

Does mean that CIBA is part of the Flat Earth Society?
and sometimes, it's just silly.

An Everlasting Piece, 2000, directed by Barry Levinson. Has anyone ever seen this film?