St Thomas More High School - Utopian Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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'c enjoyability of its advertisements. Others, on the contrary, less critical, even enjoy the endless run of wacky commercials which constitute as high as an estimated one-third of video program time. Personally, we are looking forward to the installation of an automatic commercial-elim- inator, if one can be devised without its sponsor cutting in periodically for five minute of This uninterrupted program is made possible for you by the manufacturers of Skwoosh-em, the magic sponsor-suppressor. The abuses referred to above, bad as they are, are like pebbles to an elephant compared with the real evil of modern advertising. The fact is that many manufacturers, moved by eagerness to sell their products, authorize rash claims with little or no regard for veracity. To our shame and discredit, these unscrupulous shylocks are allowed to exploit the credulity of an unsus- pecting public. For an illustration, let us take examples from the cigarette industry. Qlt must be pointed out here that we bear no grudge against cigarettes or their manufacturers. These examples were chosen only because we regard them as typical., Under the auspices of one company, ten physicians proved that because the firm used diethylene glycol to replace the glycerine used in 'ordinary cigarettes, its particular brand of puff-producers was less irritating to the throat. Without any hesitation, a group of glycerine manufacturers, fearing loss of prestige and reve- nue, countered with a test which showed that the non-glycerine containing smokes were just as irritating. To settle the matter, the cigarette company sponsored an extensive test program at a mid-Western university. After two years, the researchers reported that there had not yet been developed a method for measuring throat irrita- tion, hence no conclusion was possible from the study. Still the tobacco company continued to advertise its product as less irritating. Another manufacturer, after claiming that his cigarette contained less nicotine and citing scientific tests, watched sales boom. Research conducted by the Federal Trade Commission found that the claim was true, but exaggerated. A pack a day average of these cigarettes yielded only U24 of an ounce less nicotine in a yeafs smoking. To advertise this small fraction of difference the company paid thousands of dollars THE U TOPIAN . a week. Misrepresentations such as these are so com- mon that the entire profession of advertising has acquired a shady reputation. More and more honest merchants, eyeing the rising sales of less upright competitors, are being tempted to use misleading advertisements. If this trend is left unchecked, one of two results must follow. Either Mr. and Mrs. Public will become completely mesmorised by the fast- talk, forget-about-accuracy technique and sooner or later will accept its standards for themselvesg or they will rebel against the written and spoken word, becoming skeptical of the best intentions, refusing to believe the most modest claim. In either case there is a definite danger to adver- tising, to its effectiveness-even to its very life. Perhaps from the instinct of self-preservation, advertising agencies themselves have begun to recognize the danger. The Association of National Advertisers and the American Associa- tion of Advertising Agencies expressly asked their members to refrain from using false state- ments, indirect misrepresentations, offensive suggestions, misleading price claims, pseudo- scientific advertising, and testimonials which do not reflect the choice of a competent witness. To protect the public, the Federal Trade Com- mission isssues complaints against and prosecutes manufacturers and agencies which persist in using falsification. As a result of these and other efforts, adver- tising has improved in sincerity in recent years. Nevertheless, the offenders still are very numer- ous. People are still deceived by the old medicine-man type of salesmanship. Manufac- turers still can claim magic powers for their products and depend on the one born every minute to give them a comfortable profit. No force on earth can dissuade a people bent on being cheated. It is up to the public themselves to resist the urge to give it a try, and to exercise careful discrimination in judging adver- tisements. They must realize that there are many companies which are trying earnestly to advertise honest, straightforward facts, and should en- deavor to patronize these companies. By their united effort, they can compel dishonest adver- tisers to mend their ways. They can preserve advertising as the great constructive force which it should be. I .81

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produced by this ''I-ve-been-left-out-of-everthing'' neurosis. To guarantee perfect results from his salestalk Qexcuse me-lecturej, Professor Dim- bulb concluded with excerpts from scores of unsolicited letters attesting that possession of Model X63 was affording thousands the ultra- ultimate in joy and satisfaction. Television, of course, is not the first love wooed by artful advertisers. Tobacco tycoons, motor magnates, and sudsy-soap sellers have beguiled Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Citizen into buying bililons of items without which life would be unlivable. It seems that the slogan of the day is It pays to advertise. But whom does it pay? Or, more pertinently, whom does it pay to buy all that he sees and hears advertised as musts P Susceptible Susan Shopper, availing herself of the wise counsel of advertisers, soon finds herself the possessor of a number of useless adjuncts to modern living. She buys a set of guaranteed-for- life blankets, waterproof, mothproof, and bullet- proofg and also a set of blanket covers to protect them. The gleaming new sink in the kitchen is completely equipped with an electric garbage disposal unit, a sprayer dishwasher, and a Van johnson endorsementg yet Susie does the dishes in the dutiful old back-shed washtub rather than mar even for a minute the immaculate luster of her pride and joy. After all, with the wonderful new hard-working soaps like Zip, Blop, and Bam, she needs hardly use a sink at all. The dirt runs away at the very sight of these deter- mined detergents. Advertising has also brought about such wide- spread conditions as the loyaly of little tykes demanding the brand with the green horseshoe on the packageg men and women of all ages whistling and humming airs originally intended to extoll the merits of Zoom or Plooker's Plum Puddingg the increment to our dear language by the introduction of such words as desnifferized, and nutrinomical. Yet, one cannot be cynicalg for although golden throated announcers continue to dazzle us with fantastic promises, although advertising copywriters continue to insult our intelligence and appeal to our baser instincts, we cannot regard the art of selling the public as inher- ently evil. Indeed, advertising can be very help- ful, especially when it pursues its double purpose 80. of introducing desirable new products and of creating that volume of sales which is necessary to reduce prices. And advertising has accom- plished much in this regard. For instance, consider the estimate of a prominent automotive engineer that a low-priced modern car would cost over 318,000 if built on an individual basis. Hence, we can extend at least some small amount of belief to cigar-smoking Sam Sell-em when he asserts that his business is the great American constructive force, the hope for the future, and the cure-all for the nation's economic and material ills. As a matter of fact, advertising has become a very important part not only of our economic system, but also, at least to some extent, of twentieth century living. Not even we deny that. We merely object to the perversion of powers and the questionable or outright unethical methods which have become so characteristic of present day advertising. Once his fundamental purposes have been fulfilled, that is, the product has been introduced and is widely accepted, the advertiser is tempted to stray from his course of public service. Now the flame of competition surges as different man- ufacturers try to push their particular brands of the same product. Here we find the ingenious devices invented by men trying to ring their cash registers more loudly and frequently than do their competitors. New ideas are born-the free trial, double-your-money-back guarantee: the colossal give-away showsg the unsolicited testimonialsg and the countless variations of the obnoxious radio and television commercial. G. K. Chesterton once remarked that the great lighted signs of Times Square would be wonder- ful if you couldn't read. Similarly, we feel that many commercials would be at least tolerable if they were written in some unintelligible lan- guage. Under such conditions, both we and the advertiser would benefitg we could enjoy the artistry of the ad-writers without having to listen to their message, and the manufacturers could deduct the price of translators from their income tax. Of course, we realize that the majority of the public, as well as the manufacturers, would oppose this innovation. VVhat strange creatures we are! Admittedly, many people are more concerned with the nuisance value of radio or TV than with the THE UTOPIAN

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i - TQ , HE REMARKABLE exploits of St. Thomas More's 1951 Basketball team are already a matter of history. On the evening of March 2 the team won the Catholic League Cham- pionship by defeating WVest Catholic High School, 54-47. On the following Friday evening, March 9, they won the coveted City Title by winning over West Philadelphia Public High School, 47-43. On Wednesday, March 28, the team traveled to Glens Falls, N.Y. to participate in the invitation tournament for the Eastern States Championship. After three successive nights of gruelling play, St. Thomas More's smooth quintet came away with its third title. In the finals they defeated the strong Hill Prep School of Pottstown by a 57-54 score. On Sunday, April l, the ten-man squad, tired but trium- phant, returned to Philadelphia. If you were to ask any team member, student, or professor which of the three championships gave him the greatest thrill, he would undoubt- edly answer-the championship of the Catholic League. The other titles, though amply appreci- ated, were in the nature of an anticlimax. And it added immeasurably to the thrill that our final victims in the championship struggle were our friendly but stubborn rivals from the neigh- 82. V r D BY DOMINIC ROBERTI, '51 boring West Catholic High School. In point of fact, they forced us to defeat them three times in the one season before they allowed us the championship. Now, I happen to be the scorekeeper of the team, and I thought it might be of interest to preserve my impressions of the great evening of the Catholic League Championship. The im- pressions of a scorekeeper have a twofold value. He is situated close to the scene of action and strategy. Moreover, since he must keep the records straight, he is compelled to keep cool and calm. Since he cannot allow himself the luxury of excitement, he is able to observe the excitement of others in a more objective way. I went about my business in routine fashion, hardly realizing at first that this was not just another game. The first indication I had of something unusual was the clamor immediately behind me. They were saying things like, Go on home. You know when you've had enough. I looked up and saw a mass movement from the West Catholic stands towards the exits. The fans on the other side, having noted the little time remaining and the ample S.T.M. lead, were trying to get out before the rush. No doubt, they had seen enough. But the crowd on this side . THE UTOPIAN