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From an add for Leslie's Newspaper stressing the importance of advertising, it is stated that “Labor strikes often are the result of misunderstanding and lack of interest” (Advertising and Selling August 9, 1919 vol 29, p53).
The article then goes on to inform the public on how to go about solving this problem, advertising! The reason being, “if the great American public has explained to it the fundamental facts of American business enterprise, the fog of misunderstanding will be cleared”.
Two things came to mind when reading this article; one was the irony of advertising for advertising. I do understand that at this time advertising in newspapers was just becoming a popular way of selling ideas as well as products but telling the people it will solve there problems seems like a falsity. The second thought was: did the public really believe what this article was saying or could they see through the shallowness? By this I mean, did they come to the realization that Leslie’s weekly didn’t want to solve the problems of labor at the time, they wanted to rake in money to fund the newspaper through advertisements.
Leslie’s was selling the idea that a business could be made to look legitimate and be put in a positive light by advertising in the weekly newspaper. To some extent it may be true and trust might have grown though advertising but I believe the main beneficiaries were the papers themselves.
The article then goes on to inform the public on how to go about solving this problem, advertising! The reason being, “if the great American public has explained to it the fundamental facts of American business enterprise, the fog of misunderstanding will be cleared”.
Two things came to mind when reading this article; one was the irony of advertising for advertising. I do understand that at this time advertising in newspapers was just becoming a popular way of selling ideas as well as products but telling the people it will solve there problems seems like a falsity. The second thought was: did the public really believe what this article was saying or could they see through the shallowness? By this I mean, did they come to the realization that Leslie’s weekly didn’t want to solve the problems of labor at the time, they wanted to rake in money to fund the newspaper through advertisements.
Leslie’s was selling the idea that a business could be made to look legitimate and be put in a positive light by advertising in the weekly newspaper. To some extent it may be true and trust might have grown though advertising but I believe the main beneficiaries were the papers themselves.
posted by Donald D at 1:12 PM
1 Comments:
This ad was not intended for the "public" it was an advertisement placed in an advertising trade journal. Its target audience was businessmen and the media and advertising professionals who promoted their interests through advertising. What is the deal that Leslie's magazine is offering? What does it say about the relationship between business, labor, and the media in 1919?
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