Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-31

points stand between the public and the
purchase. He will find very often that the
points which appeal to him will be common
place to the public, and the points which
seem commonplace TO him will most
strongly appeal to the public. So IL is
necessary to put yourself always in the
readers place. and write your advertise
ment from that standpoint. Such an ad-
vertisement is sure to win. AS fundamental
as this point seems to be. IL is merely the
application of common sense to one of the
simplest phases Of the advertising prob
lem.
There are some things which claim to be
advertising. but are not. They detract
from the reputation of the business which
issues them. and do not create one atom of
respect. The only apology that can be
offered for such things is that the people
who get them up don't know very much
about advertising; in fact, they seem to
have "a serious misconception of II. These
things are designed merely to attract atten-
ton, regardless of whether the impression
they make is good or bad. But there is
about as much difference between such
attempts at advertising and real advertising
as there is between notoriety and fame.
One thing which comes under the head
of bad advertising is offensive Illustrations.
49, ACNb 16C NV - oAAtSN C1A BDNC III
a restaurant. 1t had a picture of a hideous
looking tramp glazing at you with wild eyes
and q hungry look. BY some witty play
. upon words the conclusion was deduced
that such kind of people did not cat at
this restaurant. From the number of
colors in that poster and the number of
places IL was shown. that restaurant must
have spent hundreds of dollars for 1t. And
yet the whole thing was positively revolt
ing to look at. 1t seems incredible that
any ono could imagine such a thing could
help their business.
Another form OF bad advertising is ex-
aggeration. Some people call 1t lying.
Others call it "unwarranted hyperbole."
Others call it putting it "A little strong.'
Others call 1t highly coiored." Others
take 1t as a matter of course. But no
matter what you call it or how you regard
II, the fact remains that IT Is a deliberate
attempt to get people TO believe what is
not true. And through 1t all the people
usually know 1t. sooner or later.
To enumerate all the types Of bad adver-
Using would be a task too large for one
man 20 undertake. 1 have never heard 1t
stimate how much money is spent in such
attempts at advertising. but it seems to me
1t must be an enormou sum. And 1t may
be safely said that a liberal allowance of II
"AA ~ W AIC AhNilf VIZ III lut IGNl lew
years, will bend their energies to discover
the real difference between bad advertising
and good advertising, and who will spend
this vast sum in a manner at once agree
able to the public and profitable to the
advertiser.
There are certain things which the aver
age advertiser thinks about the average
newspaper. which are worthy Of attention.
These things, and the attitude the news
paper mon take toward them, have a great
deal TO do with the opinion the advertising
men entertain of the newspaper. and that
opinion has n great deal to do with the
amount of advertising the paper receives.
Advertisers frequently talk among them
selves about the merits and dement's of
various publications, and a good or bad
opinion passed on to another man often has
a great deal of weight. There are fire.
quently times when the plans of an adver-
tser are in the balance. and just a word
one way or the other from some one else
will cause a decision which is final-it may
be a decision which will mean a great
deal of money for a newspaper, and 1t
may mean a great deal turned way from
a newspaper just at a moment when IL
was ready to hand over. This illustrates
the importance Of always doing the right
thing, at the right time. and in the right
way. 1t shows the necessity of keeping
the best foot forward every day in the
year.
One of these points which has it's effect
on the impression an advertiser gets OF a
newspaper is the folly which is sometimes
INDUCED in Of attempting TO secure ad-
vertising on other grounds than a strictly
profitable business proposition for the ad-
vertiser. For instance. IL a newspaper
advertising solicitor approaches an adver-
tiser with an appeal TO his generosity. and
says: Cant you help us out a little today;
we need the business" he is making a very
serious mistake. II he tries to bias the
judgement OF the advertiser by favors,
lunches. theatre tickets. railroad passes,
and such things, he may influence a few
unstable men for n short time. but In the