880 



H O RT 1 C U LT U R £ 



June 17, 1911 



A TALK ON ADVERTISING. 



L. W. C. Tuthlll Before the New York 

 Florists' Club. 



Your good committeeman, Shaw, is 

 to blame for this! Honest Injun, I am 

 guiltless. Take it out on him, and jol- 

 ly me along; for Ad. men are a thin- 

 skinned, sensitive lot; their business 

 makes them so; they have to tell the 

 truth; that is, if they want to stay in 

 business. 



Three years ago a boiler man blew 

 into our office and said he had some 

 money to spend, telling the good, deaj- 

 public that his boiler was the best 

 on earth — a world beater — a nine-day 

 wonder, and all that sort of bombast. 

 After a couple of hours' talk we told 

 him we would take his account under 

 one condition; and that was, that he 

 send, at his own expense, one of his 

 wonder boilers to my home in the 

 country, and install it. Then I would 

 give it a month test of every conceiv- 

 able kind. If the boiler panned out as 

 he claimed, we would frame up the 

 Ads. accordingly. If it didn't, we 

 would tell exactly what it would do — 

 and no more. Did he stand for it? He 

 certainly did not. Why? Because he 

 knew his boiler would not stand up 

 to his extravagant claims. And he 

 knew we knew it. Still he thought his 

 exaggerations on paper would sell his 

 boiler. He thought that was what one 

 was licensed to do in an Ad. He went 

 to another agency and placed the busi- 

 ness with them. For two years they 

 have been running "hot air" Ads. of 

 the most virulent type. Yesterday, 

 that same man walked into the office 

 and said his company is now ready to 

 do business with us, based on our 

 original proposal. The "Hot Air" 

 hadn't paid. 



This incident illustrates in a nut- 

 shell, the advertising situation of to- 

 day. Exaggeration must go. The 

 truth, only, pays. 



Last week I was standing on the 

 corner of 28th street, talking to one 

 of your prosperous commission men, 

 when one of the "has beens" passed 

 along. I remarked: Brown isn't the 

 man he used to be, is he? 



To which our friend replied — "No, 

 and he never was." Advertising — real 

 advertising — never was anything but 

 telling the truth. It never was a mys- 

 tic something, into the hopper of which 

 we could pour a few plugged dollars, 

 and get a bag of golden coins at the 

 other end. It never was a gamble. 

 It never was one of the necessary evils 

 that the publishers' fiends incarnate 

 schemed up to harass business men 

 and entrap their hard-earned coin. 

 But it is the biggest, strongest factor 

 In business today. Next to money — it 

 is the most essential. Science records 

 things; but advertising makes things 

 live. 



Elbert Hubbard, in one of hiS recent 

 preachments on the Red Blood in ad- 

 vertising, says: 



"The reputation that endures, or the in- 

 stitution that lasts, is the one that is prop- 

 erly advertised. But of all Aml)assadors of 

 Advertising .ind Bosses of Press Bureauism 

 none equals Moses, who lived fifteen cen- 

 turies before Christ. Moses wrote the first 

 five books of the Bible, and this account 

 Inchides a record of the author's romantic 

 birth and of his serene and dignified death. 

 Moses is the central iigure in the whole 

 write-up. Egyptian history makes not a 

 single mention of Moses or the Exodus, and 

 no record is found of the flight from Egypt 

 save what Moses M'rote. At best it was 

 cnly a few hundred people who hiked, but 



the account makes the whole thing seem 

 colossal and magnificent. And best of all, 

 the high standard set has been an inspira- 

 tion to millious to live up to. What turned 

 the trick? I'll tell you — the writings of 

 Moses, and nothing else. So able, convinc- 

 ing, direct and inclusive were the claims of 

 Moses that the world, absolutely, was won 

 by thsm. In the Mosaic code was enough 

 of the saving salt of common sense to keep 

 it alive. So it lived and keeps ou living. 

 All literature is advertising, and all genu- 

 ine advertising is literature." 



And Hubbard ought to know, for he 

 doubtless does more successful adver- 

 tising, both personal and otherwise, 

 than any one man in the country. 



The peculiar thing about advertising 

 is that pretty much everyone thinks he 

 knows just how it ought to be done. 

 If you and I were to start in the busi- 

 ness of gi-owing roses; the first thing 

 we would do would be to get a good 

 foreman — a man who thoroughly un- 

 derstood roses and how to grow them. 

 If we want an automobile we don't 

 go to a blacksmith; but if we want 

 to do some advertising, then that's 

 different — we can do that ourselves. 

 That's easy! Or, we ask some friend 

 who is free with his pen, to get up 

 something snappy. What happens? 

 In the first place the man who owns 

 a business is generally so near his 

 business that he can't see it. He has 

 lost the sense of how the other fel- 

 low — the fellow he wants to land — 

 looks at his proposition from the out- 

 side. So he starts off his wonderful 

 Ad. with the usual extravagant claims, 

 and says: 



"My rose is the only rose for you to grow 

 this season. It has 49 petals to every 

 bloom, against 42 3-16 of its nearest com- 

 petitor. Get in Hue. First come, first 

 served. Don't delay! Send your order to- 

 day. If they are good enough for John 

 liirnie, ihey are good enough for you. 

 Greatest money maker of the season. Or- 

 der now!" 



Now every word of that Ad. is true. 

 But what selling power has it? What 

 actual reasons has he given why you 

 should let loose your good money for 

 his blooming old rose? Suppose he 

 had told a frank story, just as he 

 would if talking directly to a cus- 

 tomer; suppose he had said: 



"Last season it was plain to be seen that 

 the public had grown tired of pink roses, 

 and wanted yellows. That's why I am so 

 liappy — I have a yellow that's going to be 

 a winner — and it's a Killaruey, too. It's an 

 unusually free bloomer — has long stems and 

 a deep, rich green foliage. Its silken 

 sheened petals glow like gold. Its buds 

 are big, solid, dependable ones that ship 

 splendidly and stay half open for a sur- 

 prisingly long time. Remember that last 

 point — it's a thing your commission man is 

 alwai'S howling for. I am going to sell 

 150,000 of my stock of 250,000 cuttings. 

 .How many do you want? Better step live- 

 ly — you know that a new Killarney always 

 goes like wild-fire." 



Such an Ad. actually tells something 

 about the rose — its qualities — its su- 

 perior points — it has mime silliiuj power. 

 In your opinion, which Ad. gets the 

 business? 



On the other hand, your friend with 

 the easy pen, writes the Ad. and feels 

 that it is of first importance to make 

 it funny. He says: "That is the thing 

 that attracts the public." So you stand 

 tor a joke of the vintage of 1812, and 

 then lug in by the nape of the neck 

 your little business story. The result? 



The funny story seldom is funny — 

 in advertising. Everybody knows you 

 get red in the face to bring it in — and 

 the Ad. instead of being a good, se- 

 rious, earnest, business appeal to men 

 in business houses — is more apt to be 

 smiled at over the cheese sandwich 



and beer. Hit a business man at his 

 business in a business way. That's the 

 way! 



When you buy space of your good 

 friends, Faxon, Shaw, Stewart and But- 

 terfield, for heaven's sake, don't fill it 

 as full as you can with text. If your 

 space is small, better tell one thing — 

 and tell it well, and leave plenty of 

 white space around the text. The 

 white space sets it off. Makes it look 

 interesting. For example: Three or 

 four roses in a vase, is a beautiful 

 sight — each rose presents its individ- 

 uality — its grace. A vase crowded full 

 is just a vase of roses — one, grand big 

 bunch. A mass that neither attracts 

 nor impresses. 



Some day, advertising will be re- 

 duced to an exact science. With a 

 certain given expenditure it will be 

 safe to figure on certain results. When 

 that day comes we will know what ad- 

 vertising, really is. Authorities differ 

 now. Which reminds me of my some- 

 what irreverent, but precocious little 

 niece who was one day sitting by the 

 window drawing, and drawing on sheet 

 after sheet of paper; when finally her 

 grandmother, somewhat impatiently, 

 said: "Why Tuddie, what are you do- 

 ing?" Tuddie slowly replied: "Mak- 

 ing a picture of God." Grandmother, 

 very much shocked, said: "Why that's 

 very, very naughty — no one makes pic- 

 tures of God — no one knows how God 

 looks." A long pause and more scratch- 

 ing of pencil. Finally, Tuddie repliejj: 

 "Well, they'll know how he looks 

 when I get this done." 



PERSONAL. 



Chas. L. Seybold and F. Bauer, of 

 Baltimore, sailed for Europe on June 

 12, to be absent about six weeks. 



L. W. C. Tuthill, of the Tuthill Ad. 

 Agency, New York, fell from a motor 

 cycle and sprained his ankle, so that 

 he has to go about on crutches for a 

 time. 



Frank Drews, head gardener for 

 Thos. Edison, Llewellyn Park, Orange, 

 N. J., resigned on June 1 to take 

 charge at the Essex County Country 

 Club, West Orange, N. J. 



George M. Stumpp of New York 

 sailed for his customary annual visit 

 to his old home in Germany, on the 

 Kaiser Wilhelm II, on Tuesday, June 

 13. He was accompanied by W. H. 

 Siebrecht of Astoria. 



Mr. and Mrs. T. Benjamin George 

 will give a reception on Wednesday, 

 June 21st, at their residence in Hyde 

 Park, Cincinnati. O., in honor of their 

 daughter Bessie who was secretly 

 married to Mr. Alanson A. Knowles 

 about six months ago. 



W. Taat, representative of M. Van 

 Waveren & Son, Hillegom, Holland, 

 met with a painful accident in the 

 Boston subway last week. He has 

 been in feeble health for some time, 

 and stumbled in front of an incoming 

 train and his foot was cut off at the 

 instep. At the hospital, to which he 

 was taken, it was found that ampu- 

 tation at the ankle was necessary. 

 Otherwise Mr. Taat is progressing 

 favorably, and will be able to leave 

 the hospital in about three weeks. 

 He represents one of the largest and 

 most reputable houses in Holland. 



