Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1917-04-23
PROOF THAT ADVERTISING
DOES NOT RAISE Prices
Some New Facts and Figures Throw a
Flood OF Light on this Subject

The rising cost Of living is the great
universal hardship Of the present day.
SO great and SO many have these rises
been that yew people stop to realize
that there have been any exceptions
to the general rule. But the fact is
that there have been numerous exeep-
tions and all Of these exceptions belong
to the same great elass-that Of ma
tionally advertised goods.
The present agitation on the high
cost of living has led to some investi-
cations which have brought out lot of
facts hitherto unknown to the public.
Some of the most important work in
this line is being done by the Associa-
I tion of National Advertisers, an organ
ization of 260 OF the leading advertisers
of the country Mr. Sullivan, the seere-
tary treasurer of the association, has
/ given out sore e vitally important facts
concerning the relation of advertising
to selling cost.
! The old idea, said Mr.. Sullivan,
d" that the cost of advertising raises
prices dies hard. But the business man
! knows better. He knows that selling
goods is costly business-no matter
what the goods or what the selling
methods. And he knows that anything
which creates demand on a large scale,
and thus makes selling easier, is bound
TO reduce selling costs and thus helps
to reduce prices.
''But evidence is better than argu-
ment; facts are better than theories,
and we have been at great pains to col
leet the facts. We have secured an I'M
mense amount of data from our mem
bers which proves that advertising does
reduce selling costs and thus tends to
reduce the selling price of advertised
goods. Let me quote a few examples:
"The makers ef q famous photo
graphic camera, when they began adver-
tising 2S years ago, made one camera
which took s IL inch picture and
which sold at $25. Today they make a
far better camera which sells for SO.
Another, which took 4x5 picture, sold
for $50. Today they sell far better
one for $40. And so on through the
line.
"A prominent hat manufacturer has,
by means OF advertising, reduced his
selling cost seven cents per hat Re
sult-the buyer gets a hat of better
quality at no increase in price; this
despite increased cost of raw material
and workmanship.
"When the manufacturer of a fa-
nous breakfast food specially began
advertising, his goods sold at Is cents a
package. Today the package is so pei
cent larger and the price has been re-
duced to 10 cents. Again advertising
did it, the same causes producing the
same results.
"The producer of another well known
food speciality is selling his goods at 25
per cent less to the wholesale grocery
trade than four years ago.
Twenty years ago nationally ad
vertised shaving stick Was sold in {
chap metal leatherette covered box. To
day stick containing 20 per cent more
soap is sold in a handsome nickel boz
at the same price.
"Then take the most conspicuous ex
ample of them all-the automobile
business; and compare the $4,000 of
$4,000 cars of 10 years ago with the
equally good cars of today, selling fol
a fraction of the money.
! And so on through long list. In
every case, the manufacturer either has
been able to lower the price or improve
the quality at no increase in price"
How has he done it? By means of
advertising, which has created demand
on larger scale and thus permitted
production and distribution on a large
scale. Result-improved manufacturing
efficiency end reduced selling costs
And all of this in the face of a steady
increase in the cost of labor and raw
materials which, with advertising elimi
mated, might in many cases have
doubled the price of the goods,
"a triumph of economical market
| ing" is the only possible verdict fol
advertising in the face of these facts