Government War Advertising: Report of the Division of Advertising, Committee on Public Information
The final report of the Division of Advertising, which President Wilson created inside George Creel's Committee on Public Information by Executive Order on January 20, 1918; it is dated New York, November 27, 1918.
What it is
The final report of the Division of Advertising, which President Wilson created inside George Creel's Committee on Public Information by Executive Order on January 20, 1918; it is dated New York, November 27, 1918. The division bought nothing. It ran donated space and donated agency, artist and printer labour like one large service agency. The report walks through each campaign with insertion, circulation and dollar schedules: shipyard volunteers, the Third and Fourth Liberty Loans, War Savings Stamps, Red Cross drives, Registration Day for thirteen million men, coal saving, rat control and the United War Work drive. Totals: 9,367 insertions, 548,833,148 circulation and $1,594,814.71 of space, handled at a cost to the government of about $1,500 a month. It reprints sample ads, thank-you letters from officials, and a long roll of every contributing publisher, agency, artist and printer.
Why read it now
Read it as the founding case for public-service advertising and as a donor report worth copying. Two mechanics still work. The first is the central desk: one body takes the brief, assigns a volunteer agency, gets artwork and approval, and schedules donated space, which is close to how the Ad Council, founded in 1942, still operates. The second is the accounting: every gift is turned into insertions, circulation and dollars, and every donor is named, which makes giving visible and repeatable. The closing argument, that advertising beats news publicity because wording, appearance and repetition are controlled, is still what brand owners pay for. What has aged badly: this was state propaganda. The Spies and Lies ad asks citizens to report anyone who cries for peace to the Department of Justice, and the post-war backlash against such methods helped give the word propaganda its bad name. Use: if you run a partner or sponsor programme, report each partner's contribution in its own currency and publish a named roll.
Passages worth keeping
First, it is controlled in wording, which makes it exact and authoritative.
الإعلان يتفوق على الخبر لأن صاحبه يملك الصياغة، فتصل الرسالة دقيقة وموثوقة.
Third, it makes possible the repetition of the lesson until it is learned
في رأي معدّي التقرير، التكرار حتى يترسخ الدرس هو أهم عناصر الإعلان وسبب نجاحه.
It is probably true that the people never disapprove of a sound project initiated by their representatives when once they understand it.
يرى التقرير أن الرفض والتردد يأتيان غالبًا من ضعف الشرح، لا من المشروع نفسه.
All of the work of the Division has been handled at a cost to the Government of about $1,500 per month.
كل هذا العمل كلّف الحكومة نحو 1500 دولار في الشهر، لأن المساحات والجهد جاءت تبرعًا.
Turn your THOUGHTLESS dollars into War Savings Stamps.
الإعلان يسمي الإنفاق اليومي غير الضروري أموالًا غافلة، ويطلب تحويله إلى ادخار يخدم الحرب.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
What it teaches best
Read the original archive.org
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