POWER OF ADVERTISING

Evening Star, Issue 22682, 23 June 1937, Page 16

POWER OF ADVERTISING

EXAMPLE OF THE TOOTHBRUSH At the annual dinner of the British Institute of Incorporated Practitioners in Advertising, held recently, the president (Mr R. J. Sykes) spoke of tho influence of advertising on social reform. Mr Sykes said the institute had as its object the improvement of advertising ethics and practice. Advertising was a fundamental influence in promoting social evolution and reform. It stimulated the greater popular demand and the greater power and ingenuity of production to meet that demand. In an early post-war year only 1,000,000 toothbrushes were sold in Great Britain. Since then toothpaste and toothbrush advertising bad increased that figure to over 10,000,000 a year, and saturation point was stilt far from reached. Railway companies gas and electricity undertaking:!, and the Post Office were now aware of the advantages of pleasantly addressing the public by advertisement. The milk ndvertising campaign had been mainly an appeal to tho homo. During the past six winter months the monthly increased consumption of milk had averaged over 1,000,000 gallons. The recent campaign of tho Herring Industry Board to co-ordinate the herring industry both as regarded the catching and tho marketing of fish had, in spite of labour troubles and an unusual scarcity of fish, resulted in a demand for herrings which could not always be fully satisfied. In no fewer than 11,000,000 homes the day began with an eager perusal of the newspaper. The place for continuous advocacy and the intelligently repeated description of some public service or movement was in the advertising columns.