The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1910-07-14
ADVERTISING
n CHURCH?
CHARLES e. HALL RAISES THE
QUESTION.
D o BUSINESS METHODS
AND CHURCHES WOULD INCREASE
INFLUENCE FOR GOOD.

The following article was handed to
us by Charles E. Hall, manager Of
the Minnesota and Dakota Farmer,
and in it We believe will be found food
for reflection by every reader of the
Register:
When the whole question Of the
success of the church Is rightly COM
pretended it will be conceded that the
one thing that the church most needs
to carry it safely through the pres
ent age IS a good publicity agent.
Doubtless advertising has made
many a man, but in almost every in
stance that man did something that
~redounded to the good of the people.
We nay say publicity made Upton
so, also, did it make us drink bet
ter teas.
We nay say publicity made Bannis-
ter-so, also did it make us wear bet
ter shoes.
We may say publicity made Mennen
so, also, did it make us use more
talcum powder.
We may say publicity made MUIR
phy-so, also, did it make us use bet
ter varnishes.
We may say publicity made Theo-
dore Roosevelt-so, also, did 1t make
a better United States.
Only through publicity do men be-
come great. Only through publicity
: can religious and political principles
be advanced. Only through publicity
can we let the whole world know of
:, the magnitude, resources. and posi-.
bilities of this magnificent country of
!. ours. Only through publicity can we
:. develop our industries and expand our
= commerce to their fullest glory, and
thus command tribute frGm all the ma
|, lions Of the world,
# Advertising is a positive creative
10 great thing we do.
re- The church needs publicity.
t. 1t not only needs to let the wCr.i
IS know what 1t is doing, but it needs
ito be doing things that will make the
d world sit up and take notice. ns
Il 1t must do things that will make
the church and It's people talked about
2 and written about, just as much as
theatrical enterprises and baseball
| clubs are talked about and written
about.
= Not long ago I read a lengthy ex-
PLANTATION of the causes Of the lack
of interest in the church on the part
of the men, written by a Revernd
Somebody, who declared that the
work Of the church is no longer a
mans job. that 1t hasn't work to do
of the character that would enlist
the interest of men.
A professor of Yale college recent
ly declared that to- attract attention
like books, theaters and the lecture
platform, the church must resort to
sensationalism.
There may be some truth in what
both of these gentlemen say. The
church's work for the most part Is
not aggressive enough to attract the
man that likes to fight-he goes into
politics instead, and it may be that
, sensation would serve to keep alive
interest in the church and its doings.
If the church Is retrograding, or
even standing still, 1t Is not because
| of any lack of usefulness or because
it has o virtue, but rather because
: of lack of advertising. Advertising
so potent In business, can be made
just as effective in boosting the church
and when I speak of advertising I
do not mean printed stuff.
If the doings of the church were
heralded in advance and exploited af-
Il forwards as are the doings Of theatric-
. al folks and baseball players, the pu-
) gilists and the gamblers Of Wall
u street, I nave no doubt it would thrive
. tremendously.
l Most of the publicity given these
\ people they get for nothing but they
are always doing something interest
ing, and the newspapers, as a matter
= of course, talk freely about them.
The advertising that is so often
u given the revivalists Is the sort that
might be given the church right along
if it were actively pursuing its pur
{ pose OH earth.
; Two of the best advertised men In
u the world while they lived, were
. Moody and sankey-and how much do
y you suppose they ever paid for news.
d paper or magazine publicity?
My good friends, believe you
would accomplish a great deal by
o leaving your weekly announcements