Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-08-30

son between all this and the situation
in our southern states as concerns the
Negro problem.-New York Sun.
FAKE ADVERTISING.
Business Men Growing impatient at
Imposition.
If one may judge from the manifesto
tions In different cities on the part of
people who believe in advertising and
give practical evidence Of their belief
by practicing it, there will be a consid-
cradle change Of heart among those
people as to where and how their ad-
vertisements in the future shall be
placed. That there is an amount of
money Of considerable proportions ex-
pended uselessly in flake" advertising
and without the most remote chance
OF producing satisfactory results is as
plain as monday. When it is consider
ed that there are hundreds Of millions
OF dollars spent annually in the United
States In advertisements 1t Ia but nat
ural to expect that some of it will 20
to waste. Possibly that is inevitable.
There Is, Of course, certain percentage
OF loss In all business transactions.
Advertising or publicity may be the
exception to the general rule, but the
chances are, by large majority, that
1t Is not. However, be that as 1t may,
the fact remains that the men who ad-
yertise, both great and small, are CIV
ing the subject much more attention.
They are discriminating as to where
they shall or shall not spend money in
giving publicity to the goods or prod
ucts they have to offer to the public
for sale. This movement is not confln-
ed to any particular section of the coun-
try. From far-off Oregon to nearby
Massachusetts, business men are con-
sidering the question of where they
shall or shall not advertise, and the
medium they will employ to give their
business the publicity which will bring
them practical financial results.
In some Of the towns Of Pennslyva-
mia, New York and Massachusetts, for
instance, business men and business
mems clubs have resolved that they
will do no more advertising in programs
Of entertainments got up for specific
purposes, or In the ephemeral sheets
and bills Of fare printed to give pub
licity to the day and date on which
such and such concerts, picnics excur-
sions, clam bakes, Ice cream or straw
berry festivals will take place for the
benefit Of such-and-such an associa-
tion, club, church. etc. When any Of
these affairs Is arranged q committee
makes out list Of the people who ad-
vertise, and also of those who do not
advertise, and proceed at once to in
form them that they want them to ad-
vertise in their programme. Some
members Of the committee may be Gus
toners Of the store-keepers on whom
the committee calls, and the store-keep-
er finds 1t very hard to refuse. The
committee generally wins and gets the
advertisement 1t has been after, though
the unfortunate who was waited upon
knows full we'll that his investment will
not do him a particle Of good. It may,
however save him from business harm.
He does not want to antagonize reg
ular customer, so he gives the commit.
tee the ad. to get rid Of It. Besides,
his rival In business or his neighbors,
he was told. is going in, and has given
Under the circumstances no man who
Is appealed to can afford to stay out Of
the columns Of this absolutely worth
less, from business point Of view,
programme. AS advertising mediums
these kind Of catchpenny printing
snaps" are positively no good to any
one save to the organizations which
get them up or the people who under
take to do the printing gratis and take
chances Of getting out even on what
ever advertisements they can get paid
for.
This kind Of thing may seem small
and comparatively inexpensive; and so
it would be If there was only one or
two annually, but that is not the case.
in some cities and towns there is any
number Of these organizations which
have outdoor excursions in the sum-
mer, indoor festivals in the winter and
possibly a fair at Christmas time, and
for each one Of these snaps" there is
sure to be a programme or journal at
tachment to which the local advertis-
er has to pay tribute. There is no way
Of getting out of it. The rivalry for
local trade Is so great that no man can
afford to provoke antagonisms, and in
the smaller cities there Is no surer
way Of doing so than to refuse to en-
courage these irregular and occasional
undertakings. Many times the women
interested in thees outings, festivals,
concerts or fairs undertake the duty Of
canvassing for ads. as a labor of love,
and that being the case the poor un-
fortunate store-keeper has to give up
at once and make his advertisement
longer that he otherwise would, or than
his business will warrant.
The whole thing Is wrong. The sys-
tenn Is a bad one. There Is a flavor
about it which is most unsavory, and
the sooner the practice is exterminated
the better. From many parts Of the
country reports of the determination Of
business men to abstain from adver-
tising in any of these fake" adver-
tising sheets reaches The National Ad-
vertiser. The newspaper proper Is the