The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-30
HONESTY IN PUBLICITY.
The Money Making Policy Of Truthful
Advertising.


The Foolishness of Conventional Ex-
aggeration-The Originality of Hon
esty-By Nathaniel C. Fowler, Jr.,
Doctor of Publicity.
copyright, 1898, by The Trade Company.
Boston,
You can be dishonest and succeed, for
dishonest men have succeeded.
You can be half and half and make
money, for similar others have done it be-
fore you.
The swindling bargain counter has
paid.
Dishonest clerks sometimes make sales
where honest clerks fail.
Misrepresentation often means profit.
A poor thing cannot generally be sold
If you tell the truth about it.
The public likes to be gulled and will
stand a reasonable amount of it.
The fakir is a necessary evil OF modern
progress.
The world over, in village, town or CITY,
tho successful business man, the man who
has the money and knows how to keen it,
the man with credit and tangible prop
erty, is almost invariably the man who
has been reasonably honest in his bust
ness transactions.
Ask q wholesale house what the credit
is of some great bazaar where all the
prices are slaughtered, and there are bank
rupt sales. and fire smoke and water"
three times week, and it may not speak
against it, but It's apparent reticence may
mean more.
INQUIRE about a reliable merchant, who
may not do as extensive business, but
whose business word is as good as his
business bond, and you will find that
every wholesale house in the country is
catering for his trade and Offering him
unlimited credit.
Swinjling in the short run sometimes
pays, but swindling in the long run never
has paid, and never will pay.
There is a business principle about hon
esty which deies dishonesty, and which
stands as an immutable law Of nature, as
sure as taxation.
There is no objection to a certain
amount Of exaggeration. The public ex-
pect it, and the majority of retail stores
are obliged to use it, and exaggeratiOn is
not necessarily misrepresentation and
strong statements are not always lies.
''Eire, smoke, and water sales bank
rupt sales, and all other kinds of sales,
have their place, and if not carried to ex-
cess are liable to bring profit but the
honest bankrupt sale, if improperly ad-
vertised, stands on par with the dis
honest one, and is so judged by the public.
The honest man cannot make money if
he appears to be dishonest.
Appearance is of as much Importance as
fact itself.
There never was time since the be-
ginning of business when such good op-
portunity was offered the retail mer-
chant TO be honest and to appear to be
honest, as at the present day.
Fully one half of the extensive local ad-
vertisers everywhere are liars, and the
public so consider them.
People are literally tired of reading
about oyercOats which cost S25, and are 10
be sold for Sl5. They don't believe in the
man who sells 54 bed blankets for 81 g.
They are disguised with 99-cent prices,
and don't believe in 81 q and 81 IS.
Honesty, to-day, is originality, and ex-
treme honesty will shine like star in the
advertising armament,
Successful advertising does not mean
extraordinarily, but is doing something a
little different from any one else. The
honest man has apparently a perfectly
clear road before him, and if he goes over
it as he should, he will gather from both
sides profitable customers.
1t is suggested that it will pay the ma
jority of advertisers to go even to the eX-
IRENE in honorable, straightforward
statements, for the extreme will be met
by the public, and the honest advertiser
will get the business.
It is useless to show samples of eXag-
gerated statements, for every local paper
is full of them. have simply attempted
TO present briefly few ideas of extreme
honesty, which may be of some benefit
in u suggestive way, to the local mer-
chant.