The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1912-06-07

| Talks 4
DIGNITY IN ADVERTISING.


All advertising should be digniAed
in Its way, whether 1t be exploiting
q two-cept article or a thousand-dollar
one. You are asking people to buy,
and they are entitled to respectful Ian
guage and q polite manner. Levity
10 all very well In its way. at times,
but It should not be INDUCED In at the
expense Of dignity. The advertiser
should have respect for himself and
his reputation, as we'll as for the peo-
pie he Is making his appeal to.
The cheaper, commoner articles OF
everyday use by the great masses OF
the people have been advertised hon
estly,- straightforwardly and with dig
nifty for a great many years. They
are. perhaps, the kind Of goods that
might be advertised In less dignified
way without any consequent injury to
the sales. Sometimes an advertiser
of some popular article win indulge in
slang that catches" certain class OF
people. Sometimes he stoOps to sys-
TENS and methods that are decidedly
"infra Dig" but, because Of tho ma
ture OF the article, the public over
looks the indiscretion.
But when the manufacturers or deal
ers In articles that appeal only to the
intelligent and wealthy classes-ar-
ticles the cost of which runs up into
the hundreds Of dollsrS-lose their
self-respect and abuse that OF the pub
lie by adopting circus methods to ad-
vertise their products. we be pardon
ed for feeling surprised, and we can
not but agree heartily with the author
tiles who have endeaVored to stop this
style of publicity when 1t has over
stepped the bounds Of reason.
The postofice authorities, and the
stress Of public opinion, have recently
ended the so-called puzzle PROPOSE
lions" of many OF the popular plano
houses, and few of them have taken
refuge In a new scheme, which Is
even more reprehensible than the
''rebus" and puzzle plans. The lead
ing idea is to sell pianos on time pay
ments, and one Arm with many
branches throughout the country re-
Gently offered cash prizes Of 800 and
$40 bills for the best Slogans" or
catch phrases that would advertise
their particular plano. SO far as 10
known, the prizes were duly awarded.
but the unsuccessful contestants were
far more fortunate than the winners,
according to the statement Of the firm
alluded to. Outside Of the chief prize
winner, the other ten received, respec-
lively, ten dollars each, while those
who tried but failed to win prize,
were rewarded by the arm with an
order for $S7-to apply on the pay
ment of any piano purchased from the
firm within a given time.
An accompanying circular states
that these orders are "as good as gold
coin" to any one wishing to purchase
q piano, and that the order is as good
az so much cash"
The winning slogans we're therefore
only entitled to ten dollars each, while
the unfortunate rejected ones each re-
celved the equivalent Of nearly nine
times az much as the winners got
This appeared very curious logic ex-
cept on the superstition that the order
for SS7 was really worth about the
value Of the paper It was printed on.
The trick was so palpeble that 1t Is
reasonable to suppose the INDIE
fatigable authorities will soon DO
latter" the offending Arm again, and
with a probable indictment to follow,
While It Is scarcely likely that any
person really needing plano could
be hoodwinked into such scheme a.
the above, 1t is nevertheless high
time that all reputable plano concerns
got together and made some determin-
ed effort to stop such tricky adVertis-
ing in connection with their really dig
nifled and very reputable business.--
Fame.