Evening star., 1925-10-04
A Campaign Against Crime
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN

| The first You Can't Win street
! car card, a graphic portrayal OF the
| ever present shadow OF the law loom
! Ing behind the crook and the potential
| crook. which appeared in the New
| York subways about six months ago,
| was hailed as new departure in
! advertising. Speculation was rife as
to the proba BILE results of the cam
| paiEn and its originator. Barron Col
/ lier. special deputy police commission
az. found himself flooded with in
| quiries as to his motives and logic.
The greater portion Of the press in
| dor.ed the campaign at the start and
! those few who did not indorse the
! idea passed 1t up with good natured
| chaff
! Six months have elapsed, and while
! II il Vet too early to attribute any
| direct results to this extraordinary
development in the use Of advertising.
reports indicate that experienced
criminoIogi.t. are now arraying them
/ selves in favor NJ a general use OF
advertising as a deterrent t" crime.
| Mr.. Collier has received requests for
! III. use Of his idea from places as
! far remote as Utrecht. Holland, and
! Calcutta.
The campaign ia composed OF IL
street car advertisements. nine of
which are addressed to the criminal
| and the potential criminal with the
arresting headline. You Can't Win. y
| The remaining nine are devoted TO
telling pictorially the story OF police
preparedness under the caption,
| Ready" The You Can't Win ad'
! yertisements show the criminal at
! work. startled into a cringins. fear
| ridden. abject creature by the ap-
proac ching shadow Of policeman.
The phra sing is terse and directly to
! the Doint. You can't win. You
, have to get all the breaks. On" little
! slim means prison. You can't win.
/ The cleverest stick kup' in the police
| history is old and broken and still
| has 20 years to serve.
The remaining cards of TINS part
| Of the campaign build upon ana
| amplifv the idea that there is no eS-
cape for the criminal in the long run.
that in one way or another he must
nay tho piper.'' The series cul-
inmates with two intensely dramatic
card. One. the shadows Of priest.
nrisoner and guard approaching the
shadow or the chair-the final cur
tain In tragic life of crime. with the
single admonition. You can win.
The other. the pathetic family of
nriSoner standing outside the prison
wallis, "You Can't Win-and TheS
Lose
The positive phase Of the campaign II
shows a police officer in the perform
nee of his duty. rescuina q canoeist'
stonpins a runaway team. bandaSlnS
an injured motorist and doing these
u,tIe acts Of heroism and nice 1uds
n,.nt IN which we have become so ac-
customed that we seldom give them
more than passing thought until
thev are forcibly presented to US.
.The inquiries that have been re-
ceiynd and the comments ana crlti'
cisms which have been made have
heen very gratifying. says Mr. coi-
Iier. They are the surest indication
that people are conscious on me neeu
for preventive education as a means
of deterrinc the criminal and the po-
tenttal criminal That Is what most or
the seemingly complex problems
which confront society will resolve
themselves into when we come TO ana.
I'VE them closely-consciousne or
course, the criminal and the potential
criminal have in a general way AL
wavs heen conscious that they must
paw. But the day Of reckoning has
always been tomorrow. There has al
wavs heen the gambling instinct 10
trv to heat the game.
I'm our work in the Bureau Of Pub
lie Safety. irving to conserve huma n
lives In the ever-increasinR tramc
stream In our streets. we found that
the old admonitions such =: SAFETY
First and Watch Your step had lost
their force through constant use. The
same condition exists in society's 3
method Of admonishinT the criminal
A nd potential criminal. The old warn
incs have become shopworn and trite.
They must be brought up to date.
Life must he breathed into them.
They must he made vital. living guide
POSTS Then they must be broadca st
day after day. week after week. They
must be repeated SO many times and
so forcibly. always In 4 new Kuise. a
new dress, a new dramatic intensity.
that they truly become part Of the
general consciousness.
Experience has proved that we can
so advertise tangible commodities that
| through constant association and IA
| milia rity they are accepted by the
people as standards. The same funda.
mentals apply In the advertising Of in
tangible principles and ideas. We are
selling consciousness ~ the fact that
| through crime you can't win in very
much the same manner as we would
act out to sell CONSEQUENCES Of the
| tact the John Doe Soap Co. makes
better soap.
Matter Of fact and unromantic Ak
! planation. OF course It's unroma ntic.