Show serving the public what does the word advertise mean to you does it mean to warn to give notice to to inform to notify to make known to or does it mean some sort of high powered skull buggery involving sky scrapers hollywood blondes bill boards and singing commercials the first definition was written by webster not the senator the gen tieman who wrote a dictionary the other concepts are the result of a rash of lampoonery of advertising which while some of it may con tain a gram of truth looks to me like biting the hand that Is not feed ing you the big bad novel about adver at its blooming worst was called the hucksters a best sell er highly salted with erotica which has been turned into a movie there is no accounting for tastes and I 1 won t object if you see the picture and like it all I 1 ask don t ac capt the advertising sequences as the literal truth there is much about advertising I 1 could loudly decry and often do at the risk of biting the hand that is not feeding me but there are hucksters who are undertaking projects of a heyy very decent sort of which you may not be aware maybe in these past few months you ve asked yourself why doesn doean t somebody DO something about a lot of things something about the people killed or injured in automobile accidents every year something about housing the war ended two years ago yet the land of the free still isn t providing homes for the brave shame on all of us something about the shortage of medical services patients are neg lecter hospital wards closed because the nation desperately needs nurses training them is a long range national job something about world trade our economic future depends on bunham world trade yet pressure groups make our world trade a foot ball for selfish interests something about the nation s health between the ages of 15 and 34 tuberculosis is our greatest kill er at any given time people have it but they don t know it alarming you bet it is something about our kids your children are getting a rough deal in school too few teachers too antiquated equipment old textbooks or none at all make you mad it should what has all this to do with ad ver vertis mg just this the above words were copied from an adver ti a full page advertisement in a recent new york times and perhaps other papers by this time it jrsn t an ord nary ad it Is not directed primarily to the people without homes without nurses it is directed to the persons and organ lations who can help bring these facts home to the general public to you it is an ad written by and about the advertising council con berning an operation of which al ai most everybody is conscious but about which few people know the details it Is s an operation based on giving away what the givers ordinarily sell advertising space advertising ideas advertising copy it answers the question why doesn doean t some body DO something the reply is it s given in works as well as words somebody IS the council grinds nobody s axe except yours the public s seeks no profits asks no expense account has only one objective to make amer ica a still better place than it al ready is the advertising council was born a week after pearl harbor when donald nelson about to take over chairmanship of the war production board called in a group of advertis mg ing executives and discussed with them what the average citizen could do to help victory and incidentally what would make him do it now you are reading and hearing the results of the them council councils s peace time efforts they are embodied in the various forms of advertising of many firms as spots on the radio many other places the council is providing suggestions ideas radio fact sheets and other material to members of business firms unions civic groups and other citizens who can put that tremendous power ad ver to work personalizing big national problems |