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VOLUME 5
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, AAARCH 8, 1963
NUMBER 43
On our desk Is a clipping
from the Coastland Times, and
we can’t resist the urge to pass
It along to you for what It may
be worth.
“We ask you,’’ It says, “why
a man wakes up In the morning
after sleeping under an adver
tised blanket on an advertised
mattress and pulls off adver
tised pajamas, takes a bath In
an advertised tub, shaves with
an advertised razor, washes
with an advertised soap, puts
on advertised clothes, eats a
breakfast that includes adver
tised foods and advertised
coffee, puts on an advertised
hat, rides to work In an ad
vertised car, and then refuses
to advertise--says advertising
doesn’t pay--and, if business
is bad, advertises his store
for sale.’’
Someone else has said that
falling to advertise is like kiss
ing a pretty girl In the dark.
You know what you’re doing but
no one else does. When and how
to advertise is a matter that
every owner of a business has
to decide for himself.
If, at times, he feels per
plexed while trying to figure the
best way to get the mast for
his advertising dollar, it isn't
surprising. No one, not even
the big advertising agencies
along New York's Madison
Avenue, can pinpoint with
certainty the exact value of
this or that promotion.
Some experts are convinced
that institutional advertising is
good. Others consider it money
wasted. Each taction can pro
duce Isolated examples to sup
port an argument. Some favor
the “soft sell’’ approach, while
it is insisted quite vigorously
by the “hard sell’’ advocates
that high pressure does the
trick.
New Bernlans who have
passed their 50th birthday no
doubt recognize the similarity
between today’s television com
mercials and the pronounce
ments that spielers made at old-
time medicine shows.
The spectacular demonstra
tions and amazing results
claimed for cure-alls in days
of yore were hardly more pre
posterous than some of the cur
rent sales pitches for nasal
sprays and pain killers.
You could always count on
the flashy gent presiding over a
medicine show to be com
pletely explicit when he dis
cussed ailments that m,inking is
subject to, and how they could
best be disposed of. Some of
the descriptions weredownright
gruesome.
No less blunt, however, are
commercials on TV dealing with
blocked nasal passages and
peculiarities of the alimentary
canal. Apparently, this type of
drum beating gets results,
which proves that m xlerns
despite surface sophistication
are as easy to dupe as Grand
pa was.
Grandma, bless her heart,
saved soap coupons and figured
she was getting something for
nothing when she swapped them
in for premiums. It never oc
curred to her that she was pay
ing cash for the premiums with
her purchases of soap bars and
washing powder.
Was she any different from
the housewife of today who be
lieves ImolittUly that tradinr
stamps are a gift rather than
a pttrchase included in the cost
of the various item.s she buys.
Business firms don’t operate
fContlnued on page 3)
POST MORTEM—Monday in Eastern District Federal
Court here, trial gets underway to determine liability
for the explosion and fire that destroyed this tanker at
Morehead City on September 26, 1961. Billy Benners
risked his life to snap this dramatic Mirror photo, and
United Press International sent it by telephone to news
papers and television stations from coast to coast, right
in Billy’s own studio.
REFLECTED CHARM—New Bern’s Barbara Tilley,
fourth from the left in the mirror, and other class
officers sport “Freshman Blazers” as they pose pret
tily at Meredith College in Raleigh. Barbara, who was
New Bern High school’s homecoming queen last year,
is vice-j)resident of the Meredith freshmen. Left to
right, the remaining officers are Kay Taylor of Kin
ston, president; Virginia Herrington Dunston of Eliza
beth City, reporter; Fran Smith of Richmond, Va., secre
tary; and Peggy Knauff of Charlotte, treasurer.