Few products can claim as early an advertising beginning as tea, which has been advertised for 1100 years. In that period every known media has been used, from books and broadsheets to radio and aeroplanes. There have been propaganda by countries and cooperative campaigns by merchants.

The earliest known advertisement for tea was in the form of a book, the “Ch’a Ching”, or “Memoirs on Tea”, written by Lu Yu about AD 780.

The next book written, which served as an excellent advertisement for tea, was “Kitcha Yojoki”, or the “Book of Tea Sanitation”, written in Japan by the Buddhist abbot Yeisai in 1214. Yeisai emphasized the medicinal use of tea characterizing it as “a sacred remedy, and an infallible means of longevity.”

First Newspaper Advertisement of Tea	One of the Most Famous of the early Tea Advertisements
British Tea Advertising, 1800	Early American Tea & Coffee Advertising	A Victorian Hand Bill of 1899
click on headings to enlarge

It was not until 1658 that the first newspaper advertisement of tea appeared in the London Mercurius Politicus for the week of September 23-30. One of the most famous of the early tea advertisements was issued in the form of a broadside by Thomas Barway, “Tobacconist and Seller and Retainer of Tea & Coffee” about 1660. photo Vol.2.

It was informative and educational. It was good advertising because it tried to tell the story simply and to create a favourable impression on possible customers.