Advertising is the third oldest profession after prostitution and journalism. Pyramids of ancient Egypt sold the promise of afterlife. Alexander the Great kept founding one Alexandria after another. Roman palaces advertised state authority. The multicolor banners of kings and princes promoted the glory of their respective nations. Louis XIV proudly displayed French artifacts to make others buy or mimic the French lifestyle. In this sense, the Soviet Union was an advertiser's paradise -- provided the right values were promoted.
Every visitor to the Soviet Union could not help but feel overwhelmed by numerous posters and signs asserting Communist rule. Creativity and ingenuity varied from appropriately dull "Long live Leninism!" in Moscow to almost funny "Soviet citizens have the right to rest!" at the Soviet Black Sea resorts. Materials used covered a wide spectrum of matter from red cloth to flowers and even rocks. Most experienced gardeners planted flower beds carefully shaped to say "peace" or "USSR." The best mountain climbers spent weeks building huge stone walls to spell "Lenin" on spectacular mountain slopes. A skeptic would say that this megalomaniacal advertisement campaign hardly helped communism, but he would be wrong. Communism lasted for 70 years -- not bad for a commercial product.
Of course, in modern Russia, nobody would dare advertise communism on the streets, but other commodities are being promoted energetically and persistently. Two things seem to be selling exceptionally well: cigarettes and patriotism.