Trends in Consumer Advertising

8/14/2019 Trends in Consumer Advertising

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Trends in Consumer AdvertisingAuthor(s): John BensonSource: Journal of Marketing, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Jul., 1938), pp. 20-26Published by: American Marketing AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1245214Accessed: 13/09/2008 04:23

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TRENDS IN CONSUMER ADVERTISING*JOHN BENSON

President, American Association of AdvertisingAgenciesTHIS is so many sided a subject thatI can deal with it in one of two ways:either give you a bird's-eye view oftrends or discuss some one of them morethoroughly. I take it that you prefer tohave me do the former, from what yourchairman suggested in inviting me toaddress you.I shall touch on such questions regard-ing consumer appeal, as:Changes in the character and appear-ance of it, from time to time.How readers react to advertising as itis being printed or broadcast. What theylike and dislike about it.The rising tide of consumer and readerresentment against advertising and whatwe are doing to meet it.Steps being taken or projected to im-prove consumer appeal, so that it maybe more acceptable to the reading public.With much of this some of you arequite familiar. All I aim to give you is aperspective of what has happened in thepast and what is going on now, in thegentle art of persuading people to buythrough printers' ink.In method of appeal, copy has under-gone some radical changes through theyears. During the third of a century ofmy own experience I have seen consumerappeal swing from a mere business cardto the highly sophisticated and subjec-tive approach of today.In doing so it has been largely in-fluenced by public sentiment. We heara good deal about the power of adver-tising to mould public opinion; muchmore might be said about the shaping of

copy by what people currently think andfeel.The first radical step forward was the"reason why" appeal introduced byLord & Thomas decades ago. That wasbased on human rather than mechanicalreasons for buying a product. Washingmachines, for instance, were promotednot so much for their qualities of con-struction as for the time and effort savedthe housewife, and the leisure she couldenjoy. That was the beginning of subjec-tive values in advertising, so muchdebated nowadays.The next step forward was scientificdemonstration. This was a new tech-nique in copy, born of a popular flair forscience which was then being exploitedin the public mind and in the schools.Latin and Greek were being displaced byphysics and chemistry. Things had to bescientific to be true. The copywriter wasnot slow to utilize that trend. He foundscientific reasons for the use of foods andother products; liked to quote learnedauthorities in support of them. Of coursethis opened the door to much buncombeand abuse, which still exists. It is so easyand so impressive to dress up a faker inlearned garb and have him confound themere layman. This won't be so easyhereafter, with the Wheeler-Lea Lawin effect.Another change occurred about thistime which was a real advance, and thatwas in physical appearance of the ad-vertisement. There was a marked im-provement in typography, in layout andin design, pioneered by Calkins andHolden and the J. Walter ThompsonCompany. Leading artists were em-* Anaddressbefore he AmericanMarketingAssocia-tion, Washington,D. C., May, 1938.

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THE 70URNAL OF MARKETING 21ployed to paint pictures of real merit.Physical impression became an adver-tising art.This followed an uplift in public tastethroughout the land, especially in regardto the home and its decoration. Mr. Bok,then editor of the Ladies' Home 7ournal,started a crusade in this direction, forbetter taste in architecture, in furnitureand pictures. Other magazines followedsuit. Some were devoted to that onetheme. From all of this advertising tookits cue.Then there came into American life abrutalizing period, the effect of theWorld War. For years human horrorhadbeen daily news. Hate and coarsenessprevailed everywhere. People earned un-heard of incomes, and spent them on thefleshpots.There was a cheap prosperity in theland. Sex was rampant, and businessmorals sank.The effect upon advertising was verymarked. Sex appeal of the most blatantsort appeared in print. Vulgarity leeredfrom many a page. Claims were un-restrained by either facts or reason.Media censorship slipped lower year byyear. Things were being printed in maga-zines which would have been spurned afew years before. It was a day of gettingwhile the getting was good, and thenthe bubble burst. We plunged down likea plummet.The country was abruptly disil-lusioned; people felt hostile to an eco-nomic system which had caused so muchtrouble, and advertising was its mouth-piece. It came in for a sharper scrutinythan it had ever known before. We havehad the critics on our back ever since.The depression did a number of thingsto advertising copy, some good and somebad. The bad ones were notably two.The consumer market became so thinthat extra pressure was put on adver-

tising to sell the goods. That meant"pressing" in copy, a straining aftermore effect and a heavier punch. Ex-travagance became extreme.The other bad influence was publicfear. Distress was so wide-spread, amood of panic was created. People wereeasily alarmed. Copywriters took ad-vantage of it. They appealed to all sortsof fears, of loss of health, of waningbeauty, of failure in life and love. If youdid not use a certain tooth paste, youmight fall a prey to pyorrhea; if you didnot eat a certain food, you might bemissing vitamins indispensable to health;if certain cosmetics were not used, mar-riage might be wrecked.We still have the fear motive with us,and it is still effective in advertising.Some critics feel that inspiring fear is asocially dangerous thing to do, especiallyin times of public uncertainty and dis-tress. Its influence is widespread andmay break down rather than build uppublic morale. Much of it is resented bysome consumers and laughed at byothers, for its far-fetched warnings andsenseless threats.A good influence of the depression hasbeen awakening the consumer to theneed of getting her money's worth. Shewants more facts about the things shebuys. Wants to know more about in-gredients, uses and resistance to wearand tear. Mere claims are not enough. Itis not merely a question of getting hermoney's worth, but also of fitting aproduct to its proper use.As a result advertising is much moreinformative than it used to be; labelsmore descriptive. This trend is bound togrow. If giving the reader more facts is abetter way of selling goods, you may besure more facts will be forthcoming. Re-tailers are awake to this trend. TheirConsumer-Retailer Relations Council is

advocating not merely laboratory test-


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22 THE 7OURNAL OF MARKETINGing of goods for sale in stores but alsohonest advertising and descriptive labels.National advertisers cannot afford tofall behind in the competitive bid forpublic favor.This rather rambling tale about trendsin copy and their dependence uponchanging moods in people is by nomeans scientific or accurately related inpoint of time. That would require a moreexhaustive study than I have had anychance to make. But I believe it is es-sentially true, based on over thirty yearsof experience in advertising.In comparing advertisements printedten years ago with those we see today,there is also a marked difference in thetechnique of approach. Those ten yearolds seem pale today. Their headlineswere more dignified and less pointed.They were not so personal or dramatic;not nearly so frank and vulgar; therewas less pointing of the finger at specificneeds.

Let me cite a few examples:Ten years ago Colgate ran a toothpaste ad with a headline which said:"Guard those lovely teeth; they arepriceless." A year ago Colgate ran an-other ad on the same product, and theheadline read: "Coffee and doughnutsagain; that means he hasn't a job yet."The comment is from a drug storewaitress, who implied that the poorfellow's breath smelled so bad, he couldnot get a job, and should have usedColgate's.Here is a ten year comparison betweenadvertisements of Ivory Soap. Said theearlier headline: "Fair White Hands andHow to Keep Them." Today's versionreads: "Caught Red Handed, or KayLearns A Lesson."Ten years ago Lux headlined an ad asfollows: "Every Musical Show in NewYork Uses Lux to Double the Life ofStockings." Now: "Just My FrowsyLuck; Another Run."

An ad on Fleischmann's Yeast washeadlined ten years ago: "Five WhoMight Pass Your Windows." Today: "IAm Sorry, Brown, but We Need aHustler On This Job." And of courseBrown ever after took yeast to build upstrength.Here is one on Odorono. "That Mys-terious Art of Being a Woman." Today:"Every girl owes it to herself to makethis arm hole odorless."You see how much more direct andspecific is today's advertising, swift mov-ing, colorful, frank and indelicate; muchnearer to the needs and desires of thereader.We all know that modern advertisinghas gone pictorial. Commercial art hasbecome photographic. There is much lessdemand than there used to be for thepainter's brush. Photographs are morerealistic. Mere beauty in advertisementsis at a discount. Some of the most effec-tive typography and display scare-headsitself into the reader'sconsciousness withstud-horse type and a welter of photo-graphic situations, which have the fastaction of a movie.Readers do not want supposition anymore; they want reality; they want theintimate and graphic details of actualoccurrence, and they want it in a flash.The picture magazines which havesprung up like mushrooms indicate thatpeople are real picture minded. Theywant to see what happens and just howit happens.An interesting comparison of newspictures put out by ACME was recentlymade by a student of the subject, to in-dicate what kind of pictures go over bigand what fall flat.For instance, a picture of Dr. Robert-son emerging from a ten day burial in amine disaster in Canada went over big.It showed his eyes staring with horroras rescuers reached for him at the top.A picture of the drought disaster in


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THE 7OURNAL OF MARKETING 23the West in 1935went flat. It was generalin character.Another one showing a drought victimshooting his cattle because he could notfeed them, sold big.Some flood pictures did not sell, butone showing a drowning man clinging toa gasoline tank afloat while thousandsstood by helpless, was widely printed.Two lynching pictures were com-pared. One showing a milling crowdabout the victim did not sell; anothershowing the actual lynching, with thenegro dangling against a tree, sold big.Apparently the pictures people likeare intimate glimpses of horror and sus-pense. Also, sex appeal of actual people,whether celebrities or not.Not a very nice reflection on humaninterest. People seem to be barbariansat heart.There is a school of thought in adver-tising which believes in the same kindof appeal which journalism uses, bold-and as their opponents would say,shameless. Such technique would havebeen impossible ten years ago. The pub-lic would have revolted. Today theyseem to take it in their stride.There is to be sure a large body ofpapers which do not go along with suchappeal. At least 40% of the newspapersof this country decline to publish pic-tures of this ultra sort.

People also like humor and entertain-ment. That explains the tremendousvogue of radio and its widespread use asa medium for selling goods and it alsoexplains the vogue of color comics inadvertising, now accepted by hundredsof newspapers and reaching a combinedcirculation of some 25,ooo0,000.We used to think that the "funnies"were read mostly by the children; nowDr. Gallup finds that up to 70% of adultreaders also enjoy them.This brings us to the very vital ques-tion as to how the American public re-

acts to modern advertising. Do themasses like it or dislike it? Frankly wedon't know, on the whole.We do know that consumer bodies andwomen's clubs criticize it for beinglargely misleading, much of it salaciousand indecent, most of it uninformative.In their opinion it does not serve theconsumer in any reliable way; is bent onselling goods and uses all the tricks anddevices of cajolery and emotional appealto do so.Not all women leaders feel that wayabout it; but many do, and are quitevocal.How far their ideas reach down amongthe masses who read and buy from ad-vertising, we don't know; we would liketo find out. There is grave danger in it,if the agitation persists. These leadersamong women are influential in theirown communities; what they think andsay is important; in a local sense theymake opinion. What they think aboutadvertising might easily affect millionsof uncritical women.The organized women are becomingconsumer conscious. They know theirrights and their power to enforce them.They are bent on getting their money'sworth and they are bent on having ad-vertising serve them with reliable in-formation about merchandise, its uses,its resistance to wear and tear, its wash-ability and immunity to exposure. Thereis no doubt about that. Just how theywill strike we don't know. They mayboycott the undesirable advertiser. Theymay seek and obtain legislation to pro-tect themselves. They may bring pres-sure to bear on publishers and retail-ers.How effective they can be in legisla-tion is writ large in the recent food anddrug measure passed by Congress. Whilenot as drastic as they would like, it hasteeth in it which no advertiser can affordto flout.


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24 THE 7OURNAL OF MARKETINGWe also know that whatever peoplethink about advertising has not as yetmade any serious inroad on the volumeof advertised products being bought inthis country. People seem to feel prettygenerally that they are good products,and of a quality on which they can rely.Some may think them a bit higher pricedthan the unbranded, and feel that ad-vertising is the cause. But they go onbuying.I am also convinced that the American

public instinctively likes advertising.Otherwise it never could have had sowonderful a growth. Its influence is far-reaching. It suits the American tempera-ment; is cordial and optimistic. It givesto the common things of the market aromance which helps people to carry on.The average life is drab. Very few arerich, or wise or beautiful. Statistics showon how small an income the averagefamily has to live. Its tether is veryshort. Radio and the movies are an es-cape. So is advertising. It paints so manyharmless rainbows; suggests so muchhappiness to be derived from owningand using mere things. If it's a pianowhich is being promoted, its objectivevalue is submerged in a dream of sub-jective interests, with visions of socialentre for the children, of musical eve-nings at home, of cultural advancement.The stiff fingered little boy or little girlmay have no talent for music, and socialdoors may be barred to them at best;and still the fancy free mother enjoys anescape from the stark realities about her.Here is an illustration more up todate: Many a plain woman dreamsabout being beautiful, and cosmetic ad-vertising comes along with its offer of askin one loves to touch, of a school girlcomplexion, and of youthful charm, atan age when physical forces are on theebb. She knows well enough that theseprospects are a vain illusion, and still

she likes to toy with the idea and gets areal kick out of doing something herselfto realize them. That helps her self-respect."Cosmetics," said an authority in arecent speech, "have reached so high aperfection that now they can reflect theinward graces of the mind." That's amouthful. Another remarked that cos-metics are a woman's triumph of hopeover fact, and the net result is immenselybeneficial, in improving the looks ofwomen, their freshness and personalcharm.So one might go on indefinitely illus-trating the warm appeal of advertisingto the average human. And it also feedshis or her self-esteem in bidding forpatronage and judgment of value in thegoods promoted. There is a subtle flat-tery in that.There is without doubt a rising tide ofresentment against advertising in thiscountry which has been gathering mo-mentum for the past three years. Justhow widespread it is we don't know;but we do know it is serious. The Crowellsurvey dug up some very unpleasantfacts. It estimated, from actual calcula-tions, that not less than 5,000,000 or-ganized women are exposed to adversepropaganda of the most sweeping sort,from influential sources like Universities,Government officials and such com-mercial protectors of the public as Con-sumers' Research and Consumers'Union.It also uncovered a very voluminousreading of such poison books as "Ioo,-ooo,ooo Guinea Pigs," "Skin Deep,""American Chamber of Horrors," etc.,by the public. Hundreds of public li-braries reported circulating thousandsof copies of these books to their patrons,and the use of them by schools and col-leges as required reading in their classes.Advertising has become a subject fordiscussion wherever women meet, and


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THE JOURNAL OF MARKETING 25most of it is adverse in one way or an-other.Not all the consumer movement isanti-advertising. Many of the women areintelligent and fair minded; anxiousmerely to get their money's worth.Naturally they are interested in adver-tising as a guide to value. Many havebeen misled about it. They want to knowthe truth. They want to think well ofadvertising. It is up to us to give themfacts, both benefits and abuses, and aclearer understanding of its true func-tion. The menace thus becomes an op-portunity, which it would be folly indeedfor us to miss.We are not missing that opportunity.We are launching a Consumer-Adver-tiser Council to stem the tide of mis-understanding. It will have three majorfunctions: to keep in touch with the con-sumer movement everywhere, find outwhat women think and how they arebeing influenced against us; produce orprocure the facts and have them prop-erly disseminated where they are needed;and invite complaints from responsibleconsumer sources, about advertising orany phase of it, or any campaign, to behonestly investigated, explained or ad-justed by the advertiser involved. Thiswould give the women a court of redress,and the advertisers a means of knowingwhat consumers think about their copy.

Obtaining the right kind of materialto use in news releases, in speeches andlectures, and in pamphlets, is no easytask. No special pleading would do.Every statement would have to bejudicial, and non-partisan; reflect bothsides of the question; admit faults andoffer ways and means of removing them.Anything smacking of propagandawouldsoon lose influence and be worse thanuseless. There has been too much ofthat; it has hurt rather than helped ourcause.

We don't want to kid the public andwe don't want to kid ourselves. We arelooking for the facts. We are sponsoringand have financed a study of the socialand economic value of advertising, con-ducted by the Harvard Business Schoolunder the auspices of the AdvertisingResearch Foundation. This study willgo to the root of the matter. And taketwo years to do. Then it will be pub-lished, whatever the findings, white,grey or black. We feel confident of theoutcome, whatever faults are found.At our A.A.A.A. Headquarters, wemade a survey of magazine advertising,by a jury of six copy experts and mediacensors, which showed that only 5.6%of the ads were in violation of our codeand another 4% were debatable; that is,more facts were needed to determinewhether true or false. Not a bad showingto make but bad enough to urge reform.Consumers should be told about it.What is being done or projected toregulate advertising, clean it up our-selves?We have been working on a mediacensorship plan for some time to closethe gate on undesirable copy. It wouldhave to be cooperative, with the mostinfluential publishers included, and ajoint investigator to get the facts andappraise them.That has been much facilitated by theWheeler-Lea Law, with its wide opendefinition of false advertising and itspenal provisions. If the media could keepadvertisers from getting into the clutchesof the law by means of a censorshipdirected at complying with its pro-visions, then it would be welcomedrather than resisted by advertisers, andour problem would be well on the waytowards a solution.The Wheeler-Lea Law is a good one;protects the consumer and does nothandicap honest business. Its definition


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26 THE JOURNAL OF MARKETINGof false advertising is a masterpiece ofprotection to both. It does not deal withliteral falsehood or literal truth; it dealswith a false impression, however pro-duced; and it does not split hairs abouttrade puffery, subjective inducement oremotional appeal. It outlaws dishonestywhich injures either health or pocket-book.I wish I had time to tell you somethingabout the steps being taken to make

advertising appeal more effective, moreaccurately aimed at the market beingsought, including copy testing, reader-ship of both ads and publications, andchecking lists of principles to be appliedin writing effective copy. They wouldmake a story by themselves.Undoubtedly we are headed for higherethical standards in advertising, formore consumer service, and for morecertainty of response.

Trends in Consumer Advertising

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