TRUTH IN ADVERTISING

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 June 1936, Page 4

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING

REGULATIONS IN GERMANY. Under government regulation, German advertising conditions have improved remarkably, according to C. A. Kupferberg, spokesman for a group of 35 German business men and women touring the United States in April. Among the charges which are benefiting advertising, lie emphasised the requirement of truth. Advertisers who offend on political, moral or religious grounds can be denied the use of any or all media. . Comparisons are forbidden in German copy, though it is permissible to praise one’s own products. Advertisers who offend are subject to severe penalties. Newspapers and magazines are required to file circulation statements with a governmental body, Herr Kupferberg said. Inaccuracies are punish, able by loss to the offending publication of tiie right to accept advertising. Within the past six months, commercial radio broadcasting has ceased entirely, Herr Kupferberg said. Stations are owned by the government, and all time is devoted to political purposes.

Independent agents represent all newspapers, magazines and the outdoor street pillar space used for advertising. Any licensed agent can sell space in all these media. His compensation ranges from 10 per cent, on display space to 20 per cent, on classified. lie guarantees the credit of advertisers, renders invoices to the advertiser, and also forwards plates to publications. He does not, however, concern himself with the creation of advertising. The compensation is fixed, and competition is primarily on a service and individual preference basis. An advertiser cau use one or more agents, as he sees fit. The creative functions of advertising are handled either in the advertiser’s own department by an advertising consultant, or by free-lances. There is no definite scale for compensation.