XXXIII.ARE YOUR SLIDES TRUTHFUL?
A new thing is liable to be contaminated with the faults of its elders, but this can not be said of motion-picture slide advertising, which has been kept remarkably clean and truthful.
It is to the credit of the slide manufacturers that they have never accepted any dirt-money. In other words, they have refused to make slides for loan sharks, whisky manufacturers, undertakers and such like undesirable advertisers.
Even had this type of advertiser got his slides made by hook or crook, he would yet have to pass another barrier, who had no desire to present obnoxious announcements before his patrons.
Another thing, slide advertising hassteered clear of exaggeration. I am not absolutely sure whether it is due to the indirect appeal or not, but I do know that the announcements, for the greater part, have maintained a high standard of truthfulness.
Here, again, the influence may be directly traced to the slide manufacturer, who, when preparing a stock slide for a jeweler, for instance, has to make it apply equally well to jewelers throughout the country.
Occasionally, however, he slips a cog, but this is not altogether his fault; the dealer himself is partly to blame for purchasing a slide which misrepresents his business. It may, on the other hand, just fit in with the individual needs of his competitor a few blocks up the street.
Photoplay audiences should not be disillusioned; the screen must be kept free from abuses, for once spectators discover that advertisers are in the habit ofmisrepresenting the facts, they will evince less interest in slide announcements.
Therefore, when purchasing a stock slide, let the deciding factor be: “Does it apply truthfully to my own store?” If the answer is in the affirmative, your slide will not strike a false note.