Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1960)

8 NOVEMBER ?.8, 1960 Advertising Protests Mount: Complaints from dissatisfied customers & competitors about deceptions in advertising are pouring into FTC at a rate of 5,000 per year. More than a third of them are serious enough to warrant formal citations for violations of law. In fiscal 1960 alone, 346 anti-deceptive practice complaints were issued by FTC after staffers had checked 5,000 separate complaints. The number of cases instituted then was 28% higher than in fiscal 1959 & 1958 — and those years had set “records, constituting a startling increase.” This picture of the state of advertising today was drawn for a Sales Executive Club meeting in Binghamton by FTC’s associate exec. dir. Basil J. Mezines, who said advertisers could turn the tide of complaints by using these “common-sense rules of thumb:” (1) “Advertisements must be considered in their entirety and as they would be read to whom they appeal.” (2) “Advertisements are not intended to be carefully dissected with a dictionary at hand, but rather to produce an impression upon the ordinary purchaser.” (3) “Advertisements as a whole may be completely misleading although every sentence separately considered is literally true.” (4) “Whether or not the advertiser knows the representations to be false, the deception of purchasers and the diversion of trade from competitors is the same.” (5) “A deliberate effort to deceive need not be proven to prohibit the use of advertising which misleads as an unfair method of competition or deceptive act or practice within the meaning of the Federal Trade Commission Act.” (6) “Laws are made to protect the trusting as well as the suspicious.” (7) “Advertising representations which are ambiguous will be interpreted in such a way as to accomplish the purpose of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which is to prevent the making of claims which have the tendency & capacity to deceive.” Mezines also warned against “6 sucker signals” which are practically guaranteed to arouse suspicions of FTC Chmn. Earl W. Kintner: “Buy now or lose the chance . . .” “You have been specially selected . . .” “It’s only a legal form . . .” “Just a few easy lessons . . .” “You can save up to . . .” “Yours absolutely free . . .” Mohawk Carpets returned to national TV advertising last week — after an 8 year absence. Reasons (as outlined in a Nov. 18 Printer’s Ink study) : The need to sell people on the “concept of carpeting” once again; to present a homey family approach through the medium of the right TV program; to generate dealer enthusiasm with sponsorship of a one-shot TV special; to reach “quality” audiences. Mohawk chose a 60-min. NBC-TV Thanksgiving Day color special, “No Place Like Home,” for the re-entry. Song-recording racket has been alleged by FTC in a false-advertising complaint against Star-Crest Recording Co. (Stephen F. Singer), 1350 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. Said FTC: “Mr. Singer does not pay royalties as advertised to those whose songs are accepted. In reality . . . the writers subsidize production of records containing their songs plus a profit to Mr. Singer.” Ad Psople: Bemell Grossman, formerly CBS-TV, named Compton TV-radio supervisor; Andrew F. H. Armstrong named a vp . . . William Chalmers joins Compton Advertising Inc. Los Angeles as vp-account supervisor . . . Dr. Carl II. Rush elected a Ted Bates vp.; Zachary Schwartz, TV creative dept, supervisor, named a vp. Quality-VS.-Quantity: A verbal clash between two admen whose TV programming philosophies have long been in opposition enlivened the 2nd time-buying & -selling seminar staged by RTES in N.Y. Nov. 22. Defending the position of quality programming as an environment for TV commercials was Fuller & Smith & Ross senior vp Arthur Duram. Upholding the circulation-is-the-main-thing philosophy was Filmways pres. Rodney Erickson, onetime Eastern sales vp for Warner Bros. TV. Highlights of the duel: “Mediocre shows do not command a high degree of viewer attention,” said Duram of bread-&-butter shows, “and cpm should measure ‘minds’ as w'ell as ‘bodies.’ A huge audience is useless with a low level of attentiveness.” Erickson held out for a more fundamental approach. “Basically people don’t care a hoot for your product whether it’s on a crumby Western or a high-class documentary. You have to shock them, use bongo drums, push them into a corner until they will listen. Quantity is the only path to efficiency.” That didn’t stop Duram. Said he: “Every bored viewer spells waste for the advertiser. If the rating is lower, but the audience is interested, the cpm drops. The advertiser must be assured of a stimulated audience.” Erickson’s parting shot: “This may be true . . . but the thing to improve is the commercial, not the show. Agencies should butt out of the production aspect and leave it to the producers. The only way to improve the quality of TV programming is to spend more money — and this the medium can’t afford. TV is a commercial venture — not a selective medium. Companies like U.S. Steel and Aluminium Ltd. have no business in TV. It’s pure waste for them. They should advertise in Fortune or The New Yorker.” Switch to low-pressure TV tactics by Mutual of Omaha features “Uncle Moo,” a humorous spot-commercial character who sells the health-&-accident insurance salesman rather than the insurance. “Uncle Moo” was so successful in a San Francisco test that Mutual is expanding its spot campaign to 16 additional stations. Educational Television TV-teaching techniques and other audio-visual classroom aids will be studied by the National Education Assn, under an 18-month $102,980 contract with the U.S. Office of Education. The survey, latest to be authorized under Sec. VII of the National Defense Education Act (Vol. 16:28 pl3), will be directed for NEA by James D. Finn of the U. of Southern Cal. A panel of specialists for the project will include C. R. Carpenter, Pa. State U.; Edgar Dale, Ohi* State U.; Arthur W. Foshy, Columbia U.; Charles F. Hoban, U. of Pa.; A. A. Lumsdaine, U. of Cal. at Los Angeles; Lindley Stiles, U. of Wis.; Fred F. Harcleroad, Alameda State College, Hayward, Cal.; Robert S. Gilchrist, Webster Grove, Mo.; Anna Hyer, NEA. Educational WHYY (Ch. 35) Philadelphia, seeking Ch. 12 Wilmington, is getting a financial assist from the Philadelphia Home & School Council, which represents 180,000 parents of public school children. WHYY will make its oral presentation to FCC on Jan. 10, and the Council has initiated a drive to raise funds so that the station “can present the best possible case,” reports WHYY dir. & ex-Council Pres. Mrs. H. Gilbert Wilson. She said the hearings would require considerable money — estimated by WHYY managing dir. Richard Burdick at $50,000-to$100,000 — and the station is appealing to parents.