Sponsor (July-Sept 1962)

CARSON'S CREDO [Continued from page 29) There'll be comedy, discussion, a loose, informal show, with plenty of horsing around." The comedian is insistent that many commercials would prove far more effective and with infinitely more sales points scoring if there were less "haranguing and shouting. These irritant factors drive me nuts," he sighed. He alluded to one toothpaste commercial and implied that if he was to see those "kids once more" with their "certain percent less cavity" pitches, it would also drive him nuts. "Yet, don't get me wrong," he said earnestIs . "I buy this toothpaste. It's a good toothpaste, but the way they do that commercial — that's what gets me lloW ||." Among the commercials presently on the airlanes that go over big with Carson are a Chiffon liquid detergent made by Armour out of the Young & Rubicam shop and a number of Johnson & Johnson baby product pitches emanating from the Foote, Cone & Belding agency. "Real clever, those Chiffon commercials." Carson exclaimed. "And there's excellent good taste in the J&J commercials dealing with their bah) products." Time and again, Carson paid tribute to Stan Freberg of Freberg Ltd. in Hollywood and the skill with which the man creates his commercials, notably the Chun King Corp. ones of recent origin. In a philosophical mood, Carson noted that many commercials today are based on sex and romance and the social acceptance theory, particularly in the soaps, cosmetics and cigarette copy. "If you want to be loved, you must use a certain brand soap," he ol served. "And there is implied sex in some of our cigarette commercials today. Why, you even get the sex and romance angles in cosmetic cDiiimercials for grey hair. The woman is cheered with the news that 'Your husband will feel younger, too,' when the lady used the grey hair product." Another commercials which upsets I ii -i hi immeasurably is the one displaying the inner workings of the human body. "I get so tired of the ili ip-di ip nl stomach acid.' "People get confused with all the claims and counterclaims they hear on the air," he said. And he was insistent that television was no place to sell relief for the sufferer of hemorrhoids. "Tv is no place for this kind of stuff," he repeated. "I would like to see less advertising on television," he said. "But you can't dismiss advertising. Television exists on it and it does one terrific job in this country. I'm not one of those chic guys knocking television. There's a lot of junk on the air but there's also a lot of wonderful stuff for the people. There's a lot of junk in newspapers, magazines and the movies. There's rape, lurid details in the newspapers but on the editorial page they attack tv. I'm not against newspapers, either, but I think this is unfair." In the not-too distant future, Carson also hopes to come across a soap commercial which will sound believable. The copy will most likely, say: "This soap is not going to get you a girl friend, nor a boy friend. But it will get you prettv clean!" Carson was positive that such a commercial would go over big. "It is the kind of commercial that should sell a lot of soap," he maintained. "I'm sure it will." The comedian did not object to doing his own commercials on the air but in the case of The Tonight Show, starring Johnny Carson, he'll do the lead-ins. "If you work in television as a star, you must do endorsements," he said. He also noted that he's had few arguments with sponsors over the copy handed him In most instances it was nowhere as "unrealistic" as some of the commercials he's heard on other programs. Carson spoke affectionately of several famous radio/tv salesmen of today and yesterday. He singled out Arthur Godfrey as one of the greatest on the air. "Moreover, Godfrey is one of the few figures on the airlanes who has such fun with the copy," he said. Another fine spokesmen for American products is Don Wilson. "The fellow has a fine voice," Carson said. Then there's I lain Von /i II. "He was a great announcer and salesman in his day," Carson recalled. He also describes Ken Carpenter a a particular^ outstanding exponent of the commercial sales message. "Some of today's announcers are too slick, too smooth." Carson said. "They are so studied in their casualties. In fact, they are so smooth they don't sound like normal human beings talking." As an old hand at announcing, performing and writing commercials, Carson appears more than eminently qualified to pass judgment on other announcers and writers of commercials. For one, he was one of the best writers in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he worked for KFAB. He did nearly everything but pick up cigarette butts at the station. He was a staff announcer; worked with a cowboy act slugged The Radio Rangers, conducted a children's amateur hour and wrote commercial copy. Among his writing assignments were prose epics in praise of Rosedale Monuments, a highly regarded Nebraskan tombstone maker. Carson's first network video program. The Johnny Carson Show started in the summer of 1955 and ran to 1957. He then switched to the East Coast with "Who Do You Trust?" on ABC TV and since then he's made numerous appearances on other programs as a panelist, standup comedian, and dramatic actor. In addition, he made a number of appearances on The Jack Paar Shoiv as substitute host, an experience that will stand him in good stead when he marches in as permanent host of NBC TV's glittering late-night attraction. ^ METRECAL (Continued from page 31 i ard of the presentation of the program preceding our sign-off. It was this which dictated our treatment of the United Nations, the Lincoln Memorial, the Constitution, and Independence Hall. It was in this same frame of mind that we decided to devote the entire three commercial minutes to such a message in the concluding episode of the set ies. All of these points were debatable at the time and under the circum stances and in varying degree. The big question, of course, was not so much the integrity of our intent, or the desirability of our objectives, of the validity of our assumptions. I he one thing which did concern us and •I.". -ru\s(i|{ 9 ii w 1062