Matches: An Appeal (1899)

Matches: An Appeal is a short stop motion animation done using 2 matchstick figures.  This might be the earliest animation film used for advertisement purpose. It shows an appeal made by a British match company named Messrs Bryant & May,  The film is directed by Arthur Melbourne-Cooper. Although officially the release date of this animation is supposed to be 1899 when the Second Boer War was going on but the appeal made in the film, printed adverts of the match company containing the same text content as shown in the film and the animation technique everything points the release date to be around 1914 when WWI was going on.

The story in brief:

One matchstick figure is seen writing a message on the wall mounting a ladder while another matchstick figure helps it by holding the ladder. The message is an appeal to the public by a match company. The writing is as follows - 

"For one guinea Messrs Bryant & May will forward a case containing sufficient to supply a box of matches to each man in a battalion with the name of the sender inside. 

N.B. Our soldiers need them."

More info on Matches: An Appeal and it's crew:

• Reviews and ratings of Matches: An Appeal - IMDb
• Biography of the director Arthur Melbourne-Cooper - Wikipedia
• Controversy with the release date - Silent-ology

Animation Movies by Arthur Melbourne Cooper