I thought the Edison short ADMIRAL CIGARETTES (1897) was the first commercial but I have since discovered this short promoting Dewar's Scotch Whiskey made the same year. Whichever one came first has the dubious distinction of being the worlds first commercial motion picture. Several men in kilts dance (in slow motion) in front of a banner advertising Dewar's Scotch. No one drinks any whiskey in the short but from the way they dance they must have imbibed quite a bit before the cameras began turning! This and the Admiral Cigarette short are all the proof we need that merchants quickly discovered moving pictures could be used to add a sensationalism to their product that print ads could not. Long live commercialism!
Review of Dewars Scotch Whiskey
