Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-26

| such bad company that no one would be-
| ieVe us, and our advertising would be
| absolutely valueiess. But, on the other
hand suppose that every other national
| advertiser was telling nothing but the exact,
| unVarnished, eternal truth Then what a
| glorious company would we be in, and
| what tremendous weight and value there
would be in every statement of our copy
Indeed. I will go far as to say that
| national advertising or any other kind
| of advertising is going to succeed in the
| future just in proportion to the extent that
| 1t is honest and true, and 1t is n great
| satisfaction TO know that you men who
| have the most to do with this great business
| have set yourselves to the task of accom-
| plishing this great end
you have led Congress in this direction
and the result is the law recently enacted
having for its purpose the prevention of
fraudulent advertising in the District of
Columbia. 1t is n great step in advance a
national recognition of the correctness of
your attitude, What is good for the Dis
trict of Columbia is, of course. good for the
country at large, and let us hope that all
the States, as some of them have already
done, will soon enact legislation along this
line.
Then there is an immense responsibility
upon all who are connected with advertis-
ing He who buys the advertising as we'll
as he who sells it should consider himself
as member of a great faculty, as a real
leader and instructor of the people. If the
textbooks studied in this great university
are calculated to mislead the students, II
promises are made which cannot be full
filled if courses are offered and pursued
which unfit the student for the practical
things of life, the entire institution will be
brought into discredit and disfavor and the
business of educating through advertising
will decrease rather than increase.
"In a general way, perhaps we can con-
slider that the schools and colleges and uni
versities are educating the young and that
the education derived through advertising is
directed more especially to those who are
older This classification, of course, is far
from exact, but as a broad generalization it
Is correct and when W. "ome 10 compare
the cost of the two systems of education,
one for our youth and one for our adults,
we may note some rather striking things.
For instance, magazine advertising in
the United States costs almost exactly as
much as private elementary schools, and
all the public high schools of this great
country do not cost as much by $40, 600, 900
as that classification of advertising best de-
scribed as farm and mail-order advertising
The billboard advertising of this country
costs twice as much as the amount spent
in all the normal schools OF the United
States. There is nearly as much spent
each year in the United States on theatre
advertising as is spent on schools for the
feebIe-minded, although I draw no other
comparison between the two The reform
schools of all the United States cost only
about one-thrd of the amount spent on
electric signs And when we come to foot
up the entire bill for educating the youth
in the United States we find according
to the report OF the Commissioner of Edu-
cation for the year ending June 80. 1914,
that it costs s74s,7S6,664 1 am not going
to pretend TO say how much was spent dur
ing that year in the United States for
educating the grown-ups by means OF adver-
tising. but l think YOU will agree with me
that il costs quite as much to teach the old
idea how TO shoot as il did to teach the
young idea how TO shoot"
National advertising cannot be done at
profit unless the publications used have ma
tionai circulation. according 10 Mr. Kings
And IN order to support such eIrcula-
tlon," he said, their charges must be
TT takes time TO be known all over
country as large as the United States; II
takes persistence, determination, tre-
nendous force behind an advertising cam
paign. and It also takes a willingness on
the part Of the producer and the advertiser
10 be known for just exactly what he Is.
AZ Lincoln well said. You can't fool all
he people all the time
Il am told By men of great experience
IN me advertising fed that many . cam
paien Of national advertising has failsa -