Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1912-01-20
q dAdoertisingg Talks
DIGNITY IN ADVERTISING.
People Asked to Purchase Are En- titled to Respectful Considera-
 tion--Some Modern Methods.


 All advertising should be dienifed In its way, whether 1t be exploiting two-cent article or a thousand dollar cue. You are asking people to buy, and they are entitled to respectful Ian gpage and a polite manner I4evity is all very well in its way, al times. but it should not be indulged in at the expense of dignity. The advertiser shoutd have respect for himself and hts reputation5 fts We V ell H as for tfe pe0- 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. eatly, straightforWardly and with dig nity fer a great many years They 1 afe perhaps, the kind Of goods that might be advertised in a less dignified way without any consequent injury to the sales, Sometimes an advertiser Of some popular article will indulge in slang that "catehes' a certain class of people. Sometimes he stoops to sys- tenos and methods that are decidedly 'iajra dig.s" but, because Of the na- tUre of the article, the public over looks the indiseretion.
 But when the manufacturers or deal- CTS n articles that appeal only to the intelligent and wealthy classes--ar, tieles tIfe cost Of which runs up into the hundreds of dollafs-lose their iseiffespect and abuse that of the pub 1 lie by adopting circus methods to ad- i Pcrtise their products. We be pardon Cd for feeling surpri ed and We can net but agree heartily with the author }t}es who have endeavored to stop this style ol publicity when ii has over stepped the bounds of reason
 The postofffce authorities, and the etreaa of public opinion. have recently ended tue so-called puzzle proposi- jions' of many of the popular piano henaes5 and few of them have taken refuge in a new scheme, which is even more reprehensible than the "rebas' and puzzle plans. The lead ing idea is to sell pianos on time pay uents, and one firm with many 1 branches throughout the country re- gently offered cash prizes of SlG0 and | $1G bills for the best slogans" or catch phrases that would advertise their particular piano So far as is known, the prizes were duly awarded, but the unsuccessful contestants were lar 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 a prize. were rewarded by the firm with an order for $S7-to apply on the pay ment of any piano purchased from the firm within given time
 An accompanying circular states that these orders are "as good as gold coin" 10 any one wishing to purchase a plano, and that the "order is as good aB so much cash"
 The winning slogans were therefore only entitled to ten dollars each, while the unfortunate rejected ones each re- ceiyea the equivalent of nearly nine times as much as the winners got. This appeared very curious logic ex- cept on the supposition that the order for $S7 was really worth about the value of the paper it was printed on, The trick was so palpable that 1t Is reasonable to suppose the inde iatigable authorities will soon be after the offending firm again, and with a probable indictment to follow While 1t is scarcely likely that any person really needing piano could be hoodwinked into such scheme as the above it Is nevertheless high time that all reputable piano concerns got together and made some determin' cd effort to stop such tricky advertis' Ing tn connection with their really dig nif,ea and very reputable business.- Tamo.