New-York tribune., 1918-06-09
Winning the War
How to Help Do
1t From Within
By w. O. Rutherford

A healthy industrial condition is es-
sential to win the war. Unabated
sales and continued advertising are
imperative in maintaining good in
dustrial health. The successful con-
duct Of business and the intensive
prosecution of the war present a
problem of adjustment rather than of
conflict
Advertising and advertising effort,
sales and sales effort, are just as
much part Of our economic fabric
as the growing Of wheat or potatoes
or the manufacture of articles of daily
use. What happened in England is
peculiarly instructive. August, 1914.
was characterized as the worst trade
panic England ever saw. Advertising
in the London dailies dropped to less
than half the July figures. The pub.
lie stopped buying ond began to hoard
money. People wore their shoes to
shreds. 1t was expected that there
would be unemployment on the widest
scale, and huge fund was collected
to feed the poor. This fund was never
needed.
What did England do? She called
together her advertising men and made
it plain that the industries had to be
kept alive. This gospel brought ad-
vertislng back to its pre-war level.
THAT which keeps our business going
to-day" said Selfridge, London's big
scst merchant, "is the fourteen and a
half million pounds week Of our ma
tional payroll. 1t comes out of the
bank on Friday, goes over the retailers
counter on Saturday and back into
the banks on Monday. If advertisers
wouldn't advertise, peopla wouldn't
spend, and this would mean that this
great sum would be boarded, business
would slacken, and national prosperity
would suffer"
We will search out tho fun
damental considerations involved in
our business life, and, after making a
thorough study of the economics of the
situation, l submit the following nine
declarations as being fundamental to
cur business life:
CD Since only l per cent of every
trade dollar is spent in advertising,
our entire national advertising budget
cannot, even of itself, be considered
extravaganza.
CD Advertising speeds up produc-
ton and reduces the selling expense,
thereby making the cost to the user
less than would otherwise be the case
CD The quickest way to help Ger
many win the war is to close up shop.
fail to provide labor and restrict the
circulation of money.
I4) We have recently learned the
value of the expression 'In time of
peace prepare for war" We have vet
to learn that advertising during the
war prepares for the commercial war
after the military activities are over.
(5) Americas industrial greatness
Is due largely to advertising, and fail
rre to advertise, even for a temporary
period, will drag our institutions down
ward.
go Advertising gives US national
etitutionizes America. Without it we
lose the yaiue Of the worlds greatest
trademark-"U S. A."
t7) Unless we support the press bv
our advertising, newspapers and maga-
zines will suspend publication, and our
national life will soon flow as stag
nantly as it does in the veins of a Mon
golian peasant
(8) The man who under fire aban-
dons his trademark or allows his busi-
ness to shift for itself is a business
Stacker who is helping the enemy to
win.
90 Just as we need the farmer to
grow grain, the engineer to make air.
planes, the chemist to make ammuni-
ton, we need the advertising man and
the salesman to keep the wheels of our
industries turning faster than those
of any other nation.