Evening star., 1926-12-27
THE BUSINESS OF GETTING
AHEAD.
Dissatisfaction Spur to Progre.

Louis Untermyer, the poet, ex-
pressed an ideal of this restless age
| when he wrote the line, From sleek
contentment keep me free"
Sackcloth and ashes have gone out
| of fashion, and the average family is
clamoring for more and more Of the
good things Of life. The story Of this
remarkable development in present
| dav civilization Is summed up in the
eXpression-the standard of living is
| rising
Advertising, which is the device by
which modern town criers talk to tens
of millions instead of to hundreds Of
| individuals, is an organized attempt
| to make people dissatisfied with what
| they have. Advertising is an attempt
| to build up new wants, and to Sug-
gest means of satisfying them.
Many Temptations.
In the current array of tempta-
tions which advertising bangles before
the multitudeS are not only many
commodities that were not wanted,
but which were not even conceived a
few decades ago. Safety razors,
radios, talking machines, cameras,
typewriterS, cash registers, automo-
biles, airplanes-and a thousand and
one sundries strive for the favor of
buyers.
Whether the higher average con-
sumption of commodities increases in
dividual happiness is a question for
the moralists. The rising standard of
living has a profound effect on ma
tional prosperity. The Nations bust
ness has been expended at phenom-
email rate by this process of turning
the luxuries of yesteryear into pres
ent-day necessities. No one looks
upon a bathtub today as anything ex-
cept necessity, yet middle-aged folk
can well remember the days when
they We're considered as luxuries, in
tended only for the elite.
Demand--the clamor for things to
be used-is the driving force behind
| all business enterprise. Production is
| important, but it is only a means to
an end. The objective is consumption.
Advertising creates and stimulates de-
sire, and turns wishing into wanting.
Advertising is a conStrutive business
| force, which pays for itself by means
Of expanding the volume of sales and
thus reducing the unit cost of each
transaction.
So much for advertising as 1t affects
general business.
The individual cannot order his life
in accordance with the importunings
of advertising.
Must Pick and Choose.
All except a small minority of mil
| lionaires are exposed to advertising APP
peals, which, if followed in the aggre.
gate, would call for many times their
| total annual income. Practical consid-
erations oblige the individual to pick
and choose among the many articles
| dangled before him. He must become
ira -;
| problems, not a mere log drifting mean
| inglessly in a sea of selling appeals
and subject to the effect of every
cross current. The individual should
| have a definite plan for spending and
| for saving, and, in considering an ar
| ticle that is offered to him, should
| judge it in relation to all his other
needs. The problem of selection and
rejection rests with the individual. In
buying one product he is exhausting
| his purchasing power and automatic
ally relinquishing his command over
other things.
The dissatisfaction created in the in
dividual by advertising is healthy only
| in SO far as he tempers his desires in
accordance with his means. A reason
able dissatisfaction will spur him to
greater efforts and help to heighten
| his earning power. An excessive dis
satisfaction will make him a crouch,
or something worse, and will be a seri-
GUS handicap.
In his career as an employe the indi-
viGual should be dissatisfied with his
present lot only in the sense that he
hopes for something better. He
should make his dreams effective by
preparing himself for something bet
ter-not by sulking on the present job.
| The way to promotion is through ex-
cellence at the work at hand.
A little dissatisfaction is healthy,
but unless * is reinforced by ambition
and competence it becomes a negative
and baneful influence.