Printers' Ink, June 17, 1896 (Vol. 15, No. 12), with Advertising Food Products, II by Claude C. Hopkins
A 72-page issue of Printers' Ink dated June 17, 1896, carrying the second part of Claude C. Hopkins's article on advertising food products.
What it is
A 72-page issue of Printers' Ink dated June 17, 1896, carrying the second part of Claude C. Hopkins's article on advertising food products. Hopkins says a perishable food needs quick results, since demand that arrives after the stock has spoiled is worthless. He calls himself a believer in "dignified sensationalism" and describes one campaign in detail: Swift & Company's giant Cotosuet cake, built in dozens of cities, cut from the back and served by the slice, with prizes for guessing its weight, newsboys calling "All about the big cake", and up to 50,000 visitors in a day. Newspaper argument must follow such a stunt, store placards should sell rather than amuse, circulars are wasted in groceries, and advertising is not roulette. Other pieces cover medical journals, Remington's bicycle advertising, bicycle catch-lines and summer advertising.
Why read it now
The cake story is an early, well-documented case of an event that puts trial and sale in one place: people came for the spectacle, ate the product, and bought it from staff standing by. Hopkins later told it as his own campaign at Swift; here he reports it without naming himself. What holds: a new product needs trial fast, a stunt pays only if paid media follows it up, and point-of-sale material exists to convert buyers. His line that most people would rather be interested than educated fits later effectiveness data, where emotional campaigns beat purely rational ones over the long run. What has dated: his rejection of free samples, which he reversed later in his career, and his pride in crowds so large the police closed the doors, which reads today as a safety failure. A letter in the same issue makes a point that still holds: catch-lines such as "Built like a watch" and "Sky High" tell a buyer nothing. Use: before any launch event, write the point of sale, the follow-up ads and the repeat-purchase offer, not after it.
Passages worth keeping
I am a believer in dignified sensationalism.
هوبكنز يؤيد لفت الانتباه بحدث مثير، بشرط ألا يمس ذلك احترام المنتج وسمعته.
Nine-tenths of the world would rather be interested than educated, and the other tenth likes to be interested, too.
أغلب الناس يريدون ما يشد اهتمامهم لا ما يعلّمهم، وحتى القلة التي تحب التعلم تحب التشويق أيضًا.
It is also true that the article itself, if it is worth advertising, will prove its own best advertiser.
المنتج الجيد هو أفضل إعلان عن نفسه، فالمهم أن يصل إلى أيدي الناس بسرعة ليجربوه.
Their purpose is not to amuse children, but to help convert buyers.
ملصقات المتجر لا تُصنع للزينة أو التسلية، بل لتقنع من يقف أمام الرف بالشراء.
Too many treat it like a game of roulette.
كثير من المعلنين ينشرون الإعلانات وينتظرون الحظ، بدل أن يخططوا ويتابعوا بجهد مستمر.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
What it teaches best
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