THE ART OF ADVERTISING.

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 19, 22 January 1921, Page 16

THE ART OF ADVERTISING.

■ Sir R. Home, at the Iritsrnational Advertising Exhibition : • "Advertisement is no new thin^, I suppose it -depends on the art of pei'suasion, and it really begun ir the Garden of-Eden, when the first woman was beguiled by the advertisement of a particular class of fruit (Laughter.) S-inco then it has had many developments. Down to 1853-advertisements were taxed in this country, and they still are in some countries. I cannot imagine, anything worse for the. prosperity, of the country than the taxation of advertisements, and I am glad we have passed that stagej Now the earth, sea, and.air are occupied by .emblazonments of the qualities of the- country's goods,' and what the future might be no man can foretell. The starry firmament,^ I am .certain, will be occupied by somo advertiae-ments-maughter)—and' the' Milky' Way

will develop some infants' food. (Renewed laughter.) The whole theory of pub-" licity has:changed and expanded'within recent .years. ' It is not raerely the merchant who recognises its value; the great institutions have raised larc;e sums of money through publicity, and during the, war we constructed some of the- greatest munition works, and carried out some of the greatest ad/vancements in connection with the making.of war*material through the medium and. by the merits of a great publicity campaign. Propaganda in.the best: sense has come to stay.. Some people believe that the cost of "advertising a tiling must increase its cost to pay for the publicity. I believe such'an idea is a complete fallacy. Goods ar« cheaper in the end. by advertising them, for the obvious rsason that if advertisement increases tra-de, it increases flio number of articles a manufacturer can produce at the-same cost, and.itis.apparent that, in. the end, the public get their commodities at a cheaper price than they would on a smaller scale of production."