ADVERTISING SCHEME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19455, 11 October 1926, Page 14

ADVERTISING SCHEME.

SLOGANS ON ENVELOPES. BRITISH POSTAL SYSTEM. " HELP FOR TRADE RIVALS." [FROM OCTt OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] LONDON. Aug. 21. Advertisements relating to commerce, municipalities, hospitals and societies will soon appear on British letters by the million. The scheme of advertising on letters is being carried out under tho Economy Act of 1926. The PostmasterGeneral has placed a contract with a London firm which will accept orders on his behalf for paid advertisements. Ihe advertisements will be embodied in the dies of post office date-stamping machines and will appear as part of tho postmark on all letters passing through the machines. Orders may be for a week or more, and for the machines at one or more offices. This scheme is being opposed by a great many leading men of business, chiefly because of tho danger that when they are advertising their own goods by letters through tho post a rival firm's advertisement may appear on tho envelope. Mr. A. de V. Leigh, secretary of the London Chamber of Commerce, said in regard to the proposal: "The scheme of advertising by postmark does not seem to be a desirable one, chiefly because the advertiser in many cases may be paying to advertise the goods sold by his rivals. This seems to lie the great drawback." If we send out a catalogue advertising our goods," stated a member of the staff of one firm, "most likely it will arrive at its destination bearing a slogan on the envelope advising people to shop with a rival firm." At another firm's offico it was stated that this method would not be used, and a member of the staff of a third establishment remarked that it was hardly the kind of method that firm would use to advertise its goods. The advertising manager of one large firm said: " I do not think it is likely to become popular. I remember that during the Boer War a certain form of advertising was introduced," ho added. "The advertisements used to appear at the back of postage sfamps> for the idea' was that they would be seen when the stamps were used. This method proved to be a failure, although a number of firms adopted it. The entire idea died within three months."

"Now," says the Daily Mail, "while there is little or no objection to advertisements on envelopes when they are of a national character, such as 'Buy War Loan,' or 'Visit Wembley,' there is a very strong objection to their use for purely commercial purposes. The post office is paid to carry a lettor from the writer to the person to whom it is addressed, and there is no moral right to stamp on the envelope an advertisement over which the sender has no control. It might well happen that a letter conveying news of the death of a relative or dear friend might have its envelope defaced by an advertisement totally out of keeping with the occasion. " Moreover, the scheme is inherently unfair. Why should a man who works Up a fine business and thus has a large correspondence have to run the risk of being victimised by the Post, Office by having the goods of a rival trader advertised on the letters he sends out? The whole scheme is undignified and unjust, and the money it would bring in is not worth the ridicule and hardship it would <jause."