1942: Advertising

War Influence.

During 1942 advertising in the United States became almost completely converted to the needs of a war economy. The change was gradual and less drastic than had occurred earlier in Great Britain. It did not involve any great reduction in the volume of advertising, and the bulk of this continued to be financed by private business houses, although much of it was designed for public benefit rather than private profit. No serious shortages of paper and printing materials developed, and hence there was no great pressure for curtailment of the size of newspapers and magazines. Toward the end of the year some publishers of fast-growing magazines announced a voluntary limitation of the number of pages per issue for 1943, regardless of the amount of advertising that might be offered them.

Total expenditures for advertising were probably within 10 per cent of those for 1941. Only a relatively small proportion represented Government expenditures. Some departments, of course, advertised more heavily than in normal times, notably the Navy Department for recruiting purposes. Most of the space devoted to such Government policies as conservation, salvage, and sale of War Bonds, was donated by advertisers, agencies, and media to a total value estimated at $60,000,000. The Advertising Council, composed of experts representing the important advertising associations, cooperated with the Office of War Information and other Governmental agencies in planning and executing the campaigns.

The effectiveness of this combination of forces was first shown in the nation-wide salvage campaign which resulted in the free contribution by citizens of hundreds of thousands of tons of valuable scrap metal and rubber. Before the end of the year at least sixty-five campaigns with win-the-war objectives were under way or planned. The Advertising Council received official commendation for its help in the Victory Fund Campaign by which the Government borrowed nearly $13,000,000,000 in December.

National Advertisers.

National advertisers were of three main classes: (1) those whose facilities were entirely absorbed in war production; (2) those who were still producing some items for civilian use, or who had sufficient stock of them to warrant sales promotion; (3) those whose products were for general consumption, and who were not seriously restricted by shortage of materials, priorities, and rationing.

This third class was large at the beginning of the year, but more and more of them found themselves in the second class, as new fields of foods and beverages were affected by rationing. At the close of the year few large advertisers could have continued a policy of aggressive sales promotion, even if they had desired to do so.

Actually the advertisers of popular brands of low-priced luxury articles had generally exercised restraint and had devoted much of their space to the promotion of war bonds. Their merchandise appeals had also tended toward the rational and utilitarian.

Some manufacturers of the second class were able to use advertising for its normal objectives of increasing demand. Usually the items thus promoted were of substitute materials or in changed packages. Many, however, put the machinery of advertising into reverse, and used it to discourage unnecessary buying or to prolong the life of articles already in use. Some even advertised to buy back for government use privately-owned articles like typewriters and field glasses.

The third class of manufacturers, notably those in the automotive and electrical appliance fields, also used advertising to teach conservation, often with the additional objective of increasing the service and repair business of their dealers. Most of the corporations owning valuable trade-marks used some sort of institutional advertising to keep them alive in the public mind. The earlier methods of doing this by featuring their share in the war effort were gradually displaced by more constructive information, such as the development of new products to be made available after the war. Some also aimed to provide the enabling factor of post-war consumer demand by urging the purchase of War Bonds ear-marked for the future purchase of durable consumer goods. While the bulk of institutional advertising was concentrated on winning the war, a substantial proportion looked beyond to the winning of the peace and the maintenance of the American system of free enterprise. An increased amount of advertising was used to maintain internal morale and stimulate the efforts of war-workers.

Retail Advertising.

The 1942 catalogues of the Chicago mail-order houses gave a graphic indication of the difficulties of retail advertisers. They had several thousand fewer items than in the previous year, and some of the usual sections were almost entirely eliminated. Although department stores likewise were unable to offer some of the merchandise that was customarily featured in their advertising, the omissions were partly offset by substitute articles. And as the retailers also contributed space generously to Government objectives the total volume of retail advertising held up well in most cities. Toward the end of the year shortages and rationing of the many additional kinds of merchandise operated to limit still further the fields that could benefit by active sales promotion.

Media.

Changes in living habits bore with unequal severity upon the different classes of media. Outdoor advertising suffered most from the restriction of automobile travel, and its dollar volume was estimated to be at least 20 per cent below that of 1941. General magazines lost more heavily than weeklies or newspapers, according to Printers' Ink Advertising Index. Industrial magazines continued the advance begun in 1941. Some of them showed gains as high as 40 per cent over the previous year. The increasing importance of the vocational 'bread-and-butter' publications was also reflected in other fields, such as farm papers.

Radio advertising more than held its own, despite a number of difficulties, among them an increase in agitation against the number and character of the commercials. The performers, in some instances, supported the objections and at least one popular program was reported to have declined to renew its contract with its sponsor because of disagreement on this question. Research in the measurement of the radio audience increased in importance, and the mechanical recorder was offered on a commercial basis.

Copy.

The level of advertising copy was far above average in both substance and style. Much of it was genuinely informative, and was so regarded by the public. Studies of readership by Starch indicated a higher degree of readability and effectiveness for the wartime advertisements than for similar peacetime advertisements of twelve months earlier. Part of the credit is doubtless due to the work of the Federal Trade Commission, in eliminating objectionable elements. The lessening of the pressure of competition and of the necessity for aggressive sales promotion also gave the agency executives and copy-writers a freer hand.

As might be expected with a serious-minded audience, a majority of advertisements were presented as direct appeals or exhortations. Other copy slants, however, such as the story, the drama, verse, and even the humorous skit, were not neglected. Several advertisers attempted to adopt their message to the background of the medium. Possibly the most extensive application of this principle ever adopted was the campaign in December for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, Random Harvest, which used thirteen different pieces of full-page copy in thirteen magazines. With three exceptions, each of these featured an appreciation of the film by one of the authors whose work customarily appeared in that magazine. The extra expense involved was reported to be about $130,000.

That advertisers were proud of the high quality of their copy was indicated by the fact that the entries submitted for the 1942 Advertising and Selling awards were reported to be the most numerous in the history of these competitions.

Agencies.

Several important changes in advertising agencies occurred because of the withdrawal of their leading executives to engage in war work. One of the oldest and largest agencies announced a reorganization and change of name, for this reason. Several agencies disbanded or were amalgamated with others. Shifts of large accounts or comparative inactivity cut down the volume of business of many agencies. Frequently these losses were more than counterbalanced by losses in personnel, as a large proportion, sometimes 40 per cent or more, of the male employees entered the armed services. The shortage of trained man-power threatened to become more serious, because of the greatly reduced number of students preparing for advertising in the colleges and schools of business.

Research of all kinds, not excluding research into post-war marketing problems, was continued on an increased scale. An indication of the broader scope of advertising agencies was the proposal that their name be changed to business agencies.

1941: Advertising

As in the preceding year, advertising throughout 1941 was under the shadow of the war, although the full effect of this influence was only beginning to be felt in December. Much earlier than this, however, the advertising of many classes of consumers' goods was curtailed by the impossibility of obtaining supplies of raw materials essential to their production. Some manufacturers, nevertheless, continued to advertise products they were temporarily unable to supply. The usual objectives were to maintain good-will by explaining the reasons for their inability to accept orders, and to build a deferred demand which might be stirred to activity after the cessation of hostilities.

Amount of Advertising.

The actual volume of advertising did not decrease; in fact the total expenditure for 1941 was about 4 per cent greater than for 1940. Relative to the volume of business, however, the expenditure for advertising decreased. In 1941 the expenditure of $1,700,000,000 represented only about 2 per cent of national income, a lower percentage than in any recent year. In 1935 expenditures for advertising represented about 3 per cent of national income.

Changes in Proportions.

Several changes occurred in the proportions of advertising in the various classifications according to source, media, and purposes. Retail advertising was less adversely affected than manufacturers' national advertising. In most cities it was at least normal; in many it was above normal. However, advertising could hardly be credited with being the chief factor in the heavy volume of retail sales. The mere news of impending shortages in various items, such as automobiles, silk stockings and golf balls, was enough to stimulate buying, and this tendency was accelerated by fears of inflation, taxation, and other factors making for higher prices.

Because of the slowing up in the development of new products and varieties, a smaller amount of manufacturers' advertising was of the pioneering type intended to influence primary demand. Some newly-invented appliances and materials were introduced and advertised, but the quantities available for civilian consumption were too limited to permit aggressive sales promotion of any kind. In several fields where actively competitive advertising had been customary, the need of conservation and economy caused a change in the direction of the appeal. At the end of the year the adoption of rationing policies threatened the complete extinction of advertising of these products to the general public. Competitive advertising of foods and low-priced luxuries was much less affected.

Public Service Advertising.

Partially offsetting the decrease in the amount of advertising of foreign travel, home appliances, and consumer's durable goods, were increases in advertising by Government departments and by organizations for charity and relief. Advertising was used to sell Government bonds and defense stamps, to obtain recruits for the Navy and Air Corps, to secure contributions to the Red Cross and other funds. Space and time-on-the-air for patriotic and charitable purposes were donated by media and private corporations; many of the latter used their own space largely for informative and inspirational messages designed to promote the general welfare rather than their own profit.

Newspapers and Magazines.

The circulation of newspapers and periodicals showed a greater average increase than their advertising revenue. Magazine circulation was about 5.5 per cent greater than in 1940, whereas, the dollar volume of magazine advertising was only slightly greater. This condition, together with the higher costs of labor and materials in the publishing industry, led to a serious dilemma: whether to raise advertising rates or increase prices to readers. Ladies Home Journal and Woman's Home Companion announced that their price of 10 cents per copy would be increased to 15 cents, beginning with the February 1942 issue. The Saturday Evening Post announced an increase in advertising rates. This publication retained its leadership in advertising lineage for the year by only a narrow margin over Life.

The weeklies as a whole fared better than the monthlies. Weeklies gained about 7 per cent in dollar volume of advertising, whereas women's magazines gained slightly over 4 per cent and general monthlies lost over 2 per cent. This difference was partly due to the lack of flexibility of the monthlies, with their greater length of time between closing date and date of publication. Occasionally a magazine advertisement appeared some time after the adoption of restrictions that nullified its message. With further uncertainties ahead, advertisers were reluctant to schedule advertisements very far in advance.

The higher degree of flexibility of radio and newspapers operated to their advantage. Newspapers showed a gain of about 4 per cent; radio about 10 per cent; outdoor advertising about 8 per cent. Some individual periodicals in the industrial, trade, and farm fields also made good gains. Iron Age claimed the largest increase over 1940.

Printers' Ink, the advertising trade magazine, which had been published as pocket-sized weekly for over fifty years, and had a large-sized sister publication, Printers' Ink Monthly, announced the amalgamation of the two in a standard-sized 8 by 11 weekly beginning with the first issue of 1942.

Harvard Study of Economic Effects.

One of the most important contributions to the science of advertising was made at the close of the year by the completion of the Harvard Study of the Economic Effects of Advertising. This study was the result of a survey begun over four years earlier on behalf of the Advertising Research Foundation. It was financed by a generous gift from Mrs. A. W. Erickson as a memorial to her late husband. Alfred W. Erickson, formerly chairman of the board of McCann-Erickson, Inc., advertising agents, but was conducted independently by Professor Neil H. Borden, assisted by an advisory committee of the faculty of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

The study contains the most exhaustive analysis ever made of the available data regarding the costs and results of advertising, together with the author's conclusions, approved by the advisory committee. It constitutes a book of nearly 1,000 pages, or more than 350,000 words. It estimates that nearly half the expenditure for newspaper, periodical and radio advertising is 'in effect returned to consumers in the form of low-cost periodicals and free radio entertainment.' Although it reaches the conclusion that prices of advertised goods are often higher and less flexible than those of unadvertised or unbranded goods, the difference is often due to product research and market development. On the whole, advertising is viewed as a force in raising standards of living, reducing production costs, and improving quality.

The Harvard study was welcomed by advertising men, because it promised to curb the loose generalizations that have been made for or against advertising on the basis of inadequate evidence. Criticisms of advertising from men in key positions in Government departments had caused some concern in the early part of the year. Later, however, it appeared that their statements had been misinterpreted or their views had become modified. Both the Department of Justice and the Price Administrator disclaimed any animus against advertising when used for legitimate purposes. The use of advertising as a leverage in full-line forcing or in other monopolistic practices was condemned, as well as various other misuses.

Research Activities.

Progress was made in advertising research, though mainly in refinements of methods of using tests, especially recognition tests, rather than in the adoption of new methods. Market research had new problems in the shifts in geographical location of markets caused by defense industries, and the shifts in distribution of income caused by taxation and other factors. Tests were also made of consumers' reactions to products using substitute materials.

The Advertising Research Foundation published a report on consumer reaction to certain basic issues in the field of advertising. This was based on Public Opinion polls conducted under the direction of Dr. George Gallup in 1939 and 1940. From this it appeared that the majority of the general public considered that advertising gave them the information they wanted, although about 40 per cent were critical of some advertising practices. Teachers were much more critical of advertising, and only a small percentage of them considered it sufficiently informative. However a majority of both teachers and general public believe that it is more truthful than it was five years ago. The changes between 1939 and 1940 were apparently small, and on the whole tended toward a more favorable opinion of advertising.

There were many signs indicating that during 1941 progress was made toward a better mutual understanding between the advertising profession and the leaders of the Consumer Movement. A number of conferences were held with both elements fully represented and manifesting an attitude of cordiality and cooperation. Even before the declaration of war, but more conspicuously afterwards, a number of prominent advertising men left their private business activities to devote their whole time to the publicity problems of the Government. On the part of advertisers, in general, a growing sense of social consciousness gave promise of reducing still further the proportion of advertising that has been the object of just criticism.

1940: Advertising

Despite many unfavorable conditions, the volume of advertising in the United States for 1940 showed a satisfactory increase over 1939, and reached the highest peak since 1937. Gains were small in most classes of media, but the expenditure for radio advertising was at least 15 per cent larger than in any previous year. In the latter part of the year the authorization of huge Government expenditures for the defense program stimulated business activity and had some effect upon advertising, particularly in the heavy industries that had lagged behind during the depression.

Newspaper Advertising.

In most classes of general media, the leading publications maintained their positions with little change. An interesting experiment in the newspaper field was the appearance in New York City of the daily PM, a high-grade tabloid which attempted to maintain itself without paid advertising. It did include a summary of the more important retail advertisements in other newspapers, and thus gave further evidence of the fact that such news is of high utility to consumers. The promoters did not expect PM to become self-supporting immediately, but its losses the first few months were greater than they expected, and refinancing became necessary. At the end of the year the outcome of the experiment was still uncertain.

Radio Advertising.

Although radio again proved itself the fastest-growing advertising medium, accurate figures for expenditures are not available. Time-on-the-air is but one element of cost. Program talent and other expenses probably added at least 30 per cent more. Cost of time on the large networks can be obtained with reasonable accuracy, but not for 'spot' and local broadcasting. Moreover, it is sometimes difficult to determine what part of purchased time is properly chargeable as advertising, since some of it is used for other than commercial purposes. For example, over one million dollars worth of time in October was used for political broadcasts.

Political Advertising.

The presidential campaign in the Autumn months called for the use of an exceptionally large amount of advertising space in newspapers, periodicals, and other media, probably larger than in any previous campaign. Here again it is difficult to secure even approximations of the amounts spent or the accounts to which they were properly chargeable. Only a relatively small proportion of the advertisements were inserted by the major political parties. Many were sponsored by groups or individuals who advocated the cause of some candidate or principle, but in some instances may have hoped for results beneficial to themselves. Moreover, the positions taken in these advertisements varied from a middle-of-the road neutrality to the most violent partisanship.

Some political advertisements on both sides warranted the most severe criticisms that have ever been made against commercial advertisers: namely, that they were negative attacks, highly emotional appeals to fear, and unfair to competitors. In commercial advertising, attacks on competitors had been recognized as unsound strategy and voluntarily discontinued in most fields even before the Federal Trade Commission began its vigorous suppression of unfair competition. Some of the political advertisements contained garbled quotations and other flagrant examples of unfairness. Nevertheless, the few newspapers that declined to publish such advertisements were themselves accused of unfairness. The chief redeeming feature of the situation was the fact that the extensive use of political advertisements indicated the existence of the healthy spirit of democracy upon which advertising depends. In none of the dictator-ridden countries of Europe would such a campaign have been possible.

Institutional Advertising.

During the year, an increasing number of advertisers used their space to educate the public regarding their business policies. Some of these institutional advertisements dealt only with the relations of the individual company to its employees, stockholders, and customers. Others had the broader purpose of explaining the virtues of the American system of enterprise, or some of its essential elements — including advertising. Cooperative campaigns for the railroads and the petroleum industry, among others, and campaigns by such leaders as United States Steel and the Aluminum Company of America helped to refute propaganda and forestall hostile legislation. Taxation was the theme of some effective institutional campaigns. Public utilities, tobacco companies, and others were able to show how their contributions to the Government greatly overshadowed their own share in the profits of their operations. Some of this educational work was done by newspaper and magazine advertising, but booklets and other direct mail material were also used.

Advertising Copy.

As popular thinking centered more and more around the problems of national defense, these topics became increasingly prominent in advertising copy. National defense problems formed the theme of advertisements of companies engaged in the production of airplanes and other equipment. Such advertisements were most numerous in the industrial magazines, but some appeared in general magazines. House organs had special issues dealing with the services of industries that were essential in national defense.

For advertisers of consumption goods, various aspects of the defense problem served as convenient points of contact, even where the product advertised had no direct connection with national defense. Army and navy uniforms appeared in many illustrations, and the increased air-mindedness of the public was reflected in the numerous advertisements featuring airplanes. Few American advertisers referred directly to the war itself, but some of British origin did so, usually for the purpose of showing that their customary methods of manufacture and distribution were being maintained in the face of difficulties.

Except for the war influence, no positive trends in copy slants were clearly marked. Comic strip copy and other humorous slants had already passed the peak of their popularity in general magazines, but were still prominent in the comic supplements of Sunday newspapers, where they had a more congenial background. A new wave of verse copy appeared to be rising, and recipe and other informative copy also came back into favor.

Copy Testing.

Various factors inside and outside the advertising business helped to influence the substance of advertising appeals and the manner of presenting them. Many advertisers benefited by the results of copy-testing, done by themselves, their agencies, or independent research organizations. At least ten different methods of testing copy were used, but of the newer methods the most favored were tests of 'readership' (i.e., percentage of persons seeing and reading the advertisement) by recognition and identification. Some advertisers preferred 'hidden offer' tests for the same purpose. Opinion tests, even in the elaborate form of check lists, seemed to be losing ground. A substantial minority of advertisers, according to a survey by Printers' Ink, were skeptical of the value of all copy-testing. Nevertheless, the Jury for the Advertising and Selling Awards announced that weight would be given to the results of copy tests, where available, in selecting the winners of the 1940 Awards.

These Advertising and Selling Awards, which carried on the policy originally established by Edward Bok in the Harvard Awards in 1924, had become a powerful influence in raising standards of performance, and had won the almost unanimous support of advertising agencies, some of which had stood aloof in earlier years. Other awards by associations of advertisers, such as the Public Utilities Association and the Insurance Association had become important influences in securing better copy.

Of the outside forces affecting advertising, the most powerful was the Federal Trade Commission, which had acquired a virtual censorship over national advertising. Although its rulings were often irksome to advertisers and occasionally considered unjust, it had sufficiently standardized its procedure and had established enough precedents to enable advertisers and agencies to know about what to expect. Whether the modification of claims for advertising products actually reduced advertising effectiveness is a debatable question.

The Department of Justice made some pointed references to advertising as an instrument of monopoly. A slight change of front, however, was indicated by its acceptance of advertising itself as economically sound, with the reservation that it might contribute to monopolistic practices if used as a leverage to force acceptance of a manufacturer's entire line or to dictate an unduly low margin of profit to distributors. Test cases on these questions were still undecided at the end of the year.

Radio Research.

Much time and effort was devoted to research in the field of radio advertising. The periodic surveys of program popularity were made more accurate by improved technique. Progress was made toward better measurement of rural audiences and more reliable estimates of the coverage of stations. Not so much progress was made toward the widespread use of mechanical recorders for observing listening habits, although the instruments were available, and their efficiency had been demonstrated on an experimental scale.

Changes in Technique.

Some new wrinkles in technique appeared during the year. By a ruling of the Post Office Department near the close of 1939, it became possible for magazines to include advertising inserts 'larger than page size but folded to size thereto.' A few advertisers took advantage of this opportunity to use 'fold-outs.' Some magazines permitted the use of new units of space. The American Magazine offered five new space shapes, including zig-zag and staggered layouts occupying the upper part of one page and the lower part of the facing page, with the remainder of the two pages left for editorial matter. By these arrangements the advertiser buying space only slightly greater than a single page might expect to obtain dominance approximating a double-page spread, with the advantage of being next to reading matter.

1939: Advertising

Until the outbreak of war in Europe in September, the development of advertising during 1939 was proceeding along healthy lines. The downward trends in the quantity and quality of advertising which were evident in 1938 had been reversed early in the new year and after January nearly every month showed a larger volume of advertising than the corresponding month in 1938. Of the major classes of media, radio showed the greatest gain, and, in fact, reached the highest volume in its history. Magazine, newspaper, and outdoor advertising increased slightly but remained below their volume for 1937. Printers' Ink advertising index showed them in most months about 80 per cent of their monthly average for the five-year period from 1928 to 1932.

The upward swing of advertising activity was checked toward the close of the year. In Great Britain, of course, the amount of advertising was abruptly cut in half. Such classifications as winter tours and air lines were almost entirely eliminated. Government pooling of petrol and restrictions on the use of automobiles reduced advertising of motor cars, and their supplies and accessories to a small fraction of their normal volume. Advertising of beverages, cigarettes and other luxuries was drastically curtailed, and the loss was only partially offset by increased advertising of foods, clothing, household articles, and insurance.

Radio.

Except in such relatively small classifications as foreign travel, advertising in the United States was not immediately reduced by the war. Increased use of the radio for war news possibly stimulated radio advertising somewhat, though the interruption of programs for news bulletins occasionally disarranged the sponsor's plans. Radio programs during the year showed a wholesome tendency toward more educational and informative material. Methods of testing program popularity were improved, and the results of tests were interpreted with greater caution. More attention was paid to the listening habits of rural audiences. Competition between the two leading networks was keen, but the lesser networks made excellent progress. Some advertisers increased their use of spot broadcasting.

Newspaper and Magazine.

Although newspaper advertising showed only a slight increase over 1938, the newspaper continued to be the leading medium for national advertising. This position was partly attributable to the fact that certain classes of commodities, such as intoxicating liquors, were barred by radio and by some magazines. Largely because of the Robinson-Patman Act prohibiting discriminatory advertising allowances, there was a tendency for national advertisers to handle their own local advertising, or merely supply cuts and copy to be used in space paid for by dealers.

Magazines as a whole showed little gain in advertising volume, but the weeklies had an increase of nearly 15 per cent for the first three quarters of the year. A substantial share of this was due to the rise of the pictorial weeklies, one of which nearly doubled its 1938 linage. The largest weekly had in its October 14 issue (the automobile show issue) its greatest volume of advertising since Sept. 12, 1931. A survey made by an independent research organization, supervised by a committee of experts, reached the conclusion that the four leading weekly magazines reached an average total audience of 40,000,000 readers. This survey also found that among the weekly magazines tested there were wide differences in the number of readers per copy. One magazine was reported to reach on the average 4 readers per copy; another, 8.5 readers per copy. By continuation of the study it was hoped to obtain reliable figures of the number of actual readers of magazines as a supplement to the circulation figures.

Other Media.

Outdoor advertising and direct advertising varied considerably in activity from month to month, but both were estimated to average slightly above their 1938 levels. Large expenditures for premiums and prizes continued probably above $300,000,000, but apparently on a declining scale from the two preceding years. Some users of these sales stimulants who frankly admitted them to be forms of 'depression advertising' found it inexpedient to abandon them abruptly. Many manufacturers emphasized merchandising policies of various sorts designed to win the cooperation of dealers and others involved in the distribution of merchandise. Much space was devoted to the task of winning support of various professions and trades that influence consumer purchases, such as doctors, dentists, and painters.

The most spectacular special media available for advertising during the year were the World's Fairs at New York and San Francisco. Insofar as these were advertisements of their respective cities, their results were below expectations, since the number of visitors was far below advance estimates. The disappointing attendance was thought by some experts to have been due to reliance upon free publicity rather than advertising to attract people from a distance. However, the 26,000,000 visitors to the New York Fair and the other millions at San Francisco constituted a large potential audience for the exhibits of leading industrial companies and commercial associations. Some of the exhibits that provided both instruction and entertainment were crowded to capacity throughout the period of the Fair, with benefit to the exhibitors' sales and good will. Other trade-marked articles found ingenious methods of impressing their names and talking points on the public mind, notably Life Savers with its parachute jump. Several advertisers incorporated their World's Fair theme in their other advertising.

Not only in the World's Fairs but in other media, a number of important cooperative campaigns were conducted in behalf of associations. The railroads, the air transportation companies, and several groups of competing producers used various media for good-will and institutional advertising, or to influence public opinion regarding legislation and taxation. In some localities, advertising was extensively used in connection with the political issues of the Fall elections.

Advertising Copy.

Both in newspapers and magazines there was a tendency toward greater accuracy in copy. Several factors appear to have been responsible. The enlarged powers of the Federal Trade Commission under the Wheeler-Lea Act operated to correct some abuses, and to induce a more cautious policy by advertisers, advertising agencies, and publishers. Naturally in some cases the rulings of the Commission were felt to be an unjust hardship, and in a few the alleged offender chose to dispute the question in the Federal Courts.

To assist advertisers in their observance of the Wheeler-Lea Act, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and other recent legislation affecting advertising, the National Better Business Bureau published in loose-leaf form 'A Guide to National Advertising.' This analyzed and clarified the important laws and rulings, and was of material assistance both to the Government and to business men in securing compliance with the rather complex legal restrictions, particularly in such fields as foods, medicines, cosmetics, and alcoholic beverages.

No important new legislation regarding advertising was passed although such legislation was strongly recommended by the Department of Justice toward the close of 1938. In an announcement concerning the automobile financing companies, Assistant Attorney-General Thurman Arnold digressed to denounce the advertising of trade-marked brands of various commodities, on the ground that such advertising tended to establish monopoly control. Among other things he said, 'By a variety of modern refinements upon the methods of the circus barker, advertising is used to build up public preference for the products of one producer or manufacturer solely because he has the most advertising money and can make the most noise. To meet the monopoly control which this advertising gives, the anti-trust laws by themselves are inadequate.'

This pronouncement caused some excitement in advertising circles, and the advertising journals devoted considerable space to articles and editorials replying to this accusation. A more practical refutation was given by the sales performances of products in several fields. Thus in cigarettes the 'big four' leaders were confronted by the rivalry of a lesser brand which made startling gains in sales with a comparatively modest advertising appropriation, but with a good product and a good copy theme. In other fields, also, some newcomers made excellent progress.

Copy slants showed increasing variety, with no one method conspicuous enough to be considered a ruling fashion. Such previous fads as the strip or balloon method appeared to be on the wane and those still using the method generally showed more mature skill and greater restraint than some of the earlier examples. An increasing number of advertisers adopted the policy of having special copy prepared to fit the different media on their lists. Photographs continued to be the favorite form of illustration, and advances were made in the technique of dramatic photography.

Scientific Aspects.

Advertisement-testing increased in importance, but the results were received with more scientific caution. A committee of experts, under the direction of the Advertising Research Foundation, carefully analyzed and compared the various methods (opinion, inquiry, recognition, recall, sales test, etc.) and reported on their advantages and defects.

An important advance was made in the technique of the popular recognition test by providing a method of determining the amount of allowance to be made for false or confused recognition, due to lapses of memory. Other precautionary methods were advised to secure results of greater validity in advertisement tests. One New York department store, after detailed analysis of thousands of advertisements devised a check list of points that were commonly found in its advertisements that were above average in effectiveness, and used this as a guide in planning future advertising. General check lists were used by some agencies, but regarded with scepticism by others.

The consumer movement continued to show hostility to national advertising, but progress was made toward reconciling the views and aims of the movement with those of private business. Significant evidence of this was furnished in a two day conference in June, 1939, held by the National Better Business Bureau with the cooperation of 100 business, consumer, government and educational organizations in the United States and Canada. Practically every shade of opinion was represented by a spokesman. The discussion, which was conducted in a dignified and amicable manner, helped to bring about a better understanding between advertisers and consumer representatives.

Among the important new books of the year were 'The History of an Advertising Agency' by Ralph M. Hower, 'Copy Testing,' a report by the Advertising Research Foundation, and 'Radio Advertising' by Warren B. Dygert. 'Does Distribution Cost Too Much?' a report by the Twentieth Century Fund gave authoritative data on the cost of advertising, and showed it to be much lower than is popularly supposed.