Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 April 1912 — Page 3 Advertisements Column 6 [ADVERTISEMENT]

c advertising H w DIGNITY IN ADVERTISING. People Asked to Purchase Are Erw titled to Respectful Consideration—Some Modern Methods. All advertising should be dignified in its way, whether it be exploiting a two-cent article or a thousand-dollar one. You are asking people to buy, •and they are entitled to respectful language and a polite manner. Levity is all very well in its way, at times, but ii should not be indulged in at the expense of dignity. The advertiser should have respect for himself and his repiitation, as well as for the people ho is making his appeal to. The < li. aper, commoner articles of everyday Use 1 by the great masses, of the people have been advertised hon estly.. straightforwardly and with dig nity for a great many years.* They are, perhaps, the kind of goods that might he advertised in a less dignified way without any consequent injury to tlie spies. Sonie> imes, an advert Iser of some popular art ide will indulge In slang that "eayhes" a certain class of people. Somel lines he stoops to systems and met hods t hat are decidedly “infill dig." but. because of the nature of the article, the public overleeks the indiscretion. . v . But when the manufacturers or deal- - ers In articles that appeal only to the intelligent and wealthy classes—articles the cost of which runs up into the hundreds of dollars—lose their self-respect and abuse that of the public by adopting circus methods to advertise their products, we be pardonfed for feeling surprised, and we cannot but agree heartily with the authorities who have endeavored to stop this style of publicity when It has overstepped the bounds of reason. The postofflce authorities, and the stress of public opinion, have recently ended the so-called ‘‘puzzle T propositions" of many , of the popular piano houses, and a few of them have taken refuge in a new scheme, which is even more reprehensible than the "rebus" and puzzle plans. The leading idea is to sell pianos on time payments, anyone firm with many branches throughout the country recently offered cash prizes of SIOO and $lO bills for the best “slogans” or catch phrases that would advertise their particular piano. So far as is known, the prizes were duly awarded, but the unsuccessful contestants were far more fortunate than the winners, according to the statement of the firm alluded to. Outside of the chief prize winner, the other ten received, respectively, ten dollars each, while those who tried but failed to win a prize, were rewarded by the firm with an order for sß7—to apply on the payment of any piano purchased from the firm within a given time. An accompanying circular states that these orders are "as good as gold coin" to any one wishing to purchase a piano, and that the “order is as good as so much cash.” J The winning slogans were therefore only entitled to ten dollars each, while the unfortunate rejected ones each received the equivalent of nearly vine times as much as the winners got. j This appeared very curious logic ex- , cept on the supposition that the order for SB7 was really worth about the value of the paper it was printed onThe trick was so palpable that it la reasonable to suppose the indefatigable authorities will soon be “after” the offending firm again, and with a probable indictment to follow. While it Is scarcely likely that any person really needing a piano could be hoodwinked into such a scheme aa the above, it Is nevertheless high ' time that all reputable piano concerns , got together and made some deternaln- , ed effort, to stop such tricky advertlsi Ing in connection with their really digI nlfied and very reputable business.—Fame. J* Advertising is teaching the § £ consumer to know what he fi *♦ wants. He is more apt tp pur- 8 chase goods he is familiar with g g than those of which he has no 3 £ knowledge. £ Will Fight Program Advertising. ! The Lansing (Mich.) Clothiers* association has appointed a committee to consult with business men engaged In other lines of trade and secure , their co-operation In the elimination ' of all advertising, except insert,ed in publications which appear at regular intervals. It is estimated that more than SIO,OOO was spent last year In Lansing for advertising in programs for church and fraternal organizations, from which no benefit j was derived. —— , - ■ Churches Must Advertise. A. H. Travis, religious work editor of the Twenty-third Street, New York, Y. M. C. A., gave a talk before the Adcrafters of New York on “Church. Advertising,” the other evening. Mr. Travis said that churches that try to db aggressive work must advertise tn order to interest the public, just as other Institutions are obliged to adver- • i.e to advance tb-Mr purposes*