Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-09-28

CHAPTER NH
Such campaigns cost " great deal
~ money. and are therefore quite
beyond the reach Of the poor, the
struggling. Mr.. Evans made il clear
IN Davidson. before Ne undertook
the contract that Irene's new hacker
would be obliged 70 open his purse
both frequently ard wide. The mon
ey would all come back. Ne explain
ed. later on. bnt w preparing the
field for this golden harvest the
blowing must he done thoroughly.
the seed scattered y tn lavish
hand. Under the magical spell ~
irenes charms. Davidson loosened
his purse strings. gave Mr.. Evans
carte blanche.
Modern methods of gaining pub
licity are infinitely more subtle
than those which prevailed O decade
or two ago. Then. M lore the great
war had shown The public wh-t
propaganda can al. matters we
handled crudeiy. a stolen necklace.
q divorce scandal. 81 elopement.
might Give the real or imaginary
victims q front page spread for a
day. but the effect VAS not lasting.
In q week the whole matter was
forgotten. Nowadays. publicity
agents recognize the tremendous
power If repetition-the countless
drops Of water wearing away the
stone. "A dozen minor notices.
property placed. mag ~ far more
efficacious than a single big spread
because they arc likely 10 be seen
hN more persons. and more often
PIN the same persons. By approx
ed "~foliow-ur' methods. the name
70 be advertised ls hammered ever
lastnglv into the public's con-
Frinnsness-urtil mental reactions
become automatic. And vet. IN an
this endless hammerinE. propaganda
must still he news. Newspaper men
arc anything but rullible. They.
have an abnormally developed abil-
ity to scent mere self-advertisinr.
and unless the material presented 10
them possesses news value. will have
none az ID. Mr.. Evans was an ex-
pert IN the art Of cleverly combin-
Ing the two.
His first move was II have Mr.
Davidson asked. through the proper
channels, to express in the pages
Of a Sunday his views on
the burning question az the day,
What rs wrong with the movies ?"
An article. cleverly prepared under
MT. Evans supervision. appeared
over LEWIS signature within "A few
days. Mr.. Davidson wa one ar the
big men in the picture industry: his
opinions carried weight. In the ar
ticle Nm question. he said, or was
made 70 say. that the CRYING need oil
the hour IN pictures was youth.
This BY no means original opinion
he Numbered forth for several col
urns. fitting with windmills, max
ing a great deal Of noise. Tucked
away IN an obscure paragraph was
a statement by Mr.. Davidson that IN
order 70 prove his theories he had
recently replaced his erstwhile star,
Alice Carroll. by a young woman
named Irene Shirley, whom he had
discovered In Hollywood, and who
gave promise Of rising. IN ! phenom-
enally short time. to the very high
est stellar honors
The purpose Nc this statement
was two-f0ld. first. To goad Alice
Carroll into a lawsuit. whi.h il did.
and second. 70 launch Irene's pub
lirity campaign in a dignified and
effective manner. Insiders. knowing
the game. smiled with their tongues
IN their cheeks, but the public took
N NJ lbs face value.
To the reporters from the theatre
cal papers who presently came
around % secure more information
about this hitherto obscure actress,
Mr.. Evans handed out an array OF
superb Photographs which no art edi-
tor. from a purely pictorial stand
could resist. a rarely beau
tiful woman IA always news. He
also was ready with a shcaf Of bio
graphical sketches. largely fictional,
but for that very reason extremely
interesting. The large and eff
staff employed By Mr.. Evans
sent out daily, TO newspapers, maya
zines. trade journals, brief but
spicy items concerning Miss Shirs
skill as a horsewoman-with
photograph. her pet arrnadillo-with
photograph. her favorite dish and
for making it-with rhrto-l