Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1923-09-06
EDUCATION THROUGH ADJ
yERTISING
Stimulating Public Interest in Radio
as Dominant Factor in Social
Betterment


Betterment
A novel and somewhat unselfish
trend in modern advertising has been
developed by the National Carbon
Company of New York, the largest
in the world Of dry bat
teries especially adopted for use in
radio sets. This company, in addi-
ton to conducting q national adver-
tising campaign dwelling on the mer-
its of its radio batteries has started
another national campaign designed
to call the attention of the public to
the fact that radio is no longer an ex-
pertinent, but has reached state of
perfection where a million American
find that it brings them,
through the miracles of the air choice
entertainment, the latest news Of the
day, market reports and notable
speeches by the leaders of thought.
They are pointing out that this daily
service, which is practically without
cost after the first installation, has
enlarged the horizons and broadened
the viewpoint Of all who are wise
enough to take advantage Of the
benefits it confers, and is educating
the entire nation.
There have been, in recent years,
quite few large industries which
have found it wise policy to focus
public attention on theN products
which they produce or handle, SO that
No matter what individual producer
got the benefit Of the actual sales,
the general use and knowledge of the
advertised product has been largely
Increased.
This, for instance, when ON the
grounds that the daily use of coffee
was injurious to health, manufactur-
ers of coffee substitutes threatened
BY their reiterated arguments, to re-
duce materially the consumption of
coffee berries, the importers and
roasters-the leaders in the coffee
industry found its ex pedient, in SER
les Of advertisements to present to
the general public the actual facts a.
bout coffee, showing that its mild
stimulate so far from being harmful
was positively beneficial. And from
this seemingly altruistic advertising
the entire coffee trade and the gen
eral public has benefited.
Similar unselfish advertising, urg-
ing not at all the purchase of any
particular brand, has been carried
on by other great industries. Thus
the history Of how cement is made
and the various uses for the product
has been put before the public in a
series Of advertisements, SO that the
use of concrete and cement roadways
has been greatly expanded In a
similar spirit of cooperative help the
world at large has been informed by
the brains back Of the paint industry
that off you save the surface, you
save all"; information which has re-
minded many householders Of their
need Of a coat Of paint, no matter
what kind Of paint they bought, or
from whom they get it,
But it is worthy of remark that all
Of these and many similar advertis-
.x,.r .fr,.s ba,ra taoy, ra,riad at1f
by an association of manufacturers or
dealers. Never before has single
corporation undertaken such cam
paign, bearing the entire cost with
out regard to the fact that such an
educational effort must, Of necessity,
be increasing the general interest in
adio, benefit in no small degree all
other manufacturers Of radio batter
les.
The National Carbon Company,
which is the grand-daddy Of the radio
battery interest in the world, instead
of using it's wide influence and au-
thority in advertising the merits of
it's notable Eveready radio batteries,
has arranged tremendously expen-
sive campaign to advertise radio it.
self-to urge everybody to enjoy the
large benefits of radio. This is the
first instance on record in which a
single manufacturer has advertised
the product Of an entire industry.
And this is the more notable when it
is known that the product advertised
by the National Carbon Company,
Radio Receiving Sets, is not the pro-
duct of the advertiser.
In carrying out this plan, the Ma
tional Carbon Company will be per-
forming a great public service, for
radio has by now reached point of
perfection where it is exerting a
very marked influence on the social
and educational life Of the nation,
Any message broadcasted from any
one Of the larger stations in New