ADVERTISING FOR ARMIES.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15502, 1 February 1916, Page 9

ADVERTISING FOR ARMIES.

J E.MrEKOKS .-VXD SULTANS USE THE PRESS. John H. Fahey, president of the ' Chamber of Commerce of the United j States, recently delivered an address on "'Advertising and Commercial Organisations as Allied Forces in the Promotion of American Business." He said : • "If there are still extant men who ask the question 'Does it pay to advertise?' I know their thinking is of the kind which would lead them to light factories with candles and insist upon the advantages which would accrue if the residents of modern critics still drew their water by bucket from the town well. '"When nations in the greatest struggle of history advertise for armies; when kings and emperors and sultans come down from their thrones to seek the attention of the world and present their, pleas and defences through the Press;-when it has become the daily bread of a largo portion of the world's business, it is indeed a man of limited mentality who still questions the power of publicity. "Its vamo to society has, in fact, so impressed itself that to-day publicity is, the light of the world. Tt may bo said, with little element of speculation in the assertion, that if publicity had characterised dealings between the. nations of Europe during the past fifty years, and secret diplomacy had been eliminated, the present world war, with its terrorism and threat to all civilisation, would not now be raging. "The. power by which hundreds of thousands of minds, yes, millions of minds, may b e turned to consideration of the samp, thing at the sanie time, is a wonderfully useful influence. Whether that power is employed to make millions think of the policies of the Government or the homely comforts and economics affecting their daily lives, the underlying value of this power is the same; the advantages to bo gained from its use aro idpntical. "It is often contended that you cannot advertise successfully when \business is bad, but tho extent to which confidence may be restored and enthusiasm reawakened by enterprising advertisers under adverse conditions was demonstrated again and in remarkable ways during the period of uncertainty which prevailed in our own country immediately after th© first of last August. Once more it was shown that the public demand for commodities always exists, in greater or lesser degree. It is simply a question of brains and ingenuity in securing response under conditions a little harder than usual. The war emphasises old difficulties and brings with it new conditions." j