Quacks and charlatans, promoters of advertising and propaganda

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to account for the figure of the quack as a pioneer of advertising and propaganda. This character was a charlatan who performed spectacular cures and sold miraculous remedies in public squares, well entered the twentieth century. From the review of newspapers and magazines of the time, the role of the square as a stage of spectacles that had pain as one of its main protagonists is analyzed, and the stories and formulas of persuasion of some of these charlatans are reviewed. This article allows to conclude that many of the techniques used by the quacks, whether in the moment of appearing before their public or when they announced their services in the press, set fundamental precedents for the development of modern advertising and political propaganda.