Abstract: This study aims to explore a particular way to improve the effectiveness of corporate advertising. In light of the contextual priming theory, this study creates a controllable advertising context by purposively placing a corporate advertisement (a prime) preceding a product advertisement (a target) of the same brand in print magazines. The hypotheses are tested among Chinese consumers. Results indicate that corporate ads yield favorable brand evaluations among consumers; however, not all socially responsible or humanitarian themes elicit equal degree of favorable brand evaluations. A high-applicability theme would generate more favorable brand evaluations than a low-applicability theme; the overall brand evaluations resulting from the low-applicability condition reveal no difference from those generated from the product-ad-only condition. In addition, this study finds that corporate advertising elicits affective priming effects, by which corporate ads trigger consumers’ positive feelings and thereby influence their subsequent evaluations of product information. Overall, this study has provided a fresh perspective in advancing research in advertising effectiveness concerning the long-standing issue of linking corporate advertising to corporate performance.