The Value of Advertising.

Manawatu Herald, 19 March 1898, Page 2

The Value of Advertising.

The Americans have it that •' He who in the world wou'd rice, must either bust or advertise." The truth >f this homely adage wa? exemplified for by no means the first time, in the Supreme Court yesterday. A con -'iderable portion of the evidpnce in the ca^e Woods v. Brown had to do wjth the value of advertising. Thf ca«e aro?e out of the advertising of " Woods' Great Pappermint Cure." The plaintiff allpged that the pale A the medicine had fallen off in certain dissricts in conspqu-nc* of ! the non insertion of his advertise ments in newspapers published in ho«e districts. Sir Robert Stout, for the defendant , objected to a question in regard to a falling off in tho sale of the medicine in the South Island. How could thf plaintiff say that the falling off wns due to the non insertion of advetisements ? Tbpre might have b( en no one suffering from' coughs or olds. (Laughter.) Or perhaps other cures were advertised in batter poetry. (Laughter.)

The chief justice said it might be taken to be a matter of common knowledge tbat if a thing was advertised its sale was promoted. The plaintiff, continuing, said in reply to his counsel, Mr Skerrett, tbat he found at the tim« of the noninsertion of advertisements in certain provincial papers in the South that the returns from Dunedin and Ohristchurch were not ao good as he expected tbey should be. If one didn't advertise, one would not get a sale His Honor : .What is the meaning of this ? Mr Skerrett i Whether good or hnd tbe cure must be kept before the public. Witness, continuing, said that for the three months of April, May and Jnne in 1896 his receipts from the ra-'dicin _ for the Wellington com mercial district wero £887. For the same period of 1897 the receipts were £583. There were no sales in Auckland in 1896. He advertised j extensively in the Auckland papers in 1897, and the sales there io that vpar wre £468 for the same period Tbe Chri^tfhurch sales fell from £125 in 1896 to £58 in 1897, and h • Dan°din «ales from £151 in 1896 •o £68 in 1897 for fhe same period. During the year 1896 the total sales for New Zealand were £881 ; in 1897 they were £1558. He know ot no reason othpr than the non-ins 3 r tion of advertisements in certain nap rs for the diminution of sales in Christchurch and Dunedin. By Sir Robert Stout : The sale of witness' mixture did not depend on travellers. It depended entirely on advertising. The man who advertised " came off." A paragraph wat inserted in the New Zealand Time* recently in regard to the ex tent ofthe sales of the mixture. Sir Robert Stout : Now, to put it straight, is not this action just a part of your advertising scheme? (Li tighter.) Witness : Certainly not. Alexander Low, manager of the New Zealand Drug Company, "said that from the Ist March to the Slst July, 1896. his company sent to Dunedin £189 worth of plaintiffs mixture. For the same period of 1867 only £86 worth was sent. His company's sales for Wellington for the Ra rae period increased from £77 in 1896 to £214 in 1897. He was a firm believer in tbe mixture as a saleable article. Sir "Robert Stout : How many holies of it does it take to cure a cold ? Witness : That 13 not in my line, ({.aughter.) I thought you had faith in it?— Ye^ as a saleable article. No^t as a curative article ? — I don't know anything about tbat. (Renewed laughter.) John Harfc Owen, manager for Sharland and Co. in Wellington, said thafc no maker of a patent. m°dicine would decr?ase hig advertising unless he was inclined to give up the sale of the preparation a- to "ether. By Sir Robert Stout : Witness' experience had been that no sensible man spent money in advertising unless he was convinced that the preparation was a thoroughly good one. Ifc was true that there were fashion? in pntenfc medicines. Did you ever know advertisements not sell a patient medicine ? I think ho pale of a medicine is due, not nly to the medicine itself, but also 'o advertising. Then the medicine has something to do with? — Undoubtedly (Laughter.) People are not so silly as to be iieve everything that appears in patent medicine advertisements?-— Some persons — There are a good many fools in | fhe world ?- 1 believe so ; bufc the j finis are not the advertisers. — N.Z Timet ' \