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FAIR TRADE
(Continued from Page
The Cigarette Debacle
8)
brought to the attention of local author-
ities, Better Busines Bureaus, etc., lastly,
identify yourself, your position, com-
pany and address.
2. Seek enforcement of municipal
ordinances and regulations; state and
local laws.
3. Support and encourage adoption
of state laws and local ordinances which
are designed to curb misrepresentation.
4. Through your advertising you can
help educate consumers upon the im-
portance of patronizing legitimate and
substantial retailers.
5. Use those means available to you
such as citing the Trade Practice Rules
to local authorities and the Rice article,
"Bait Advertising In Papers Can Be
Stopped."
So you see, there is action you can
take, and there is no need to despair.
Unfortunately advertising is the prin-
cipal vehicle used by unethical retail-
ers. I use the word "advertising" in its
broadest possible sense which includes
newspapers, direct mail, radio, television
and every other type of media.
Advertising can work for you as well
as against you. For an example of how
to become ensnared in your own web,
look at the predicament of the cigarette
manufacturers today. Sales are dropping
off, many people are turning to pipes
and cigars all because of the silly health
claims with which each cigarette adver-
tiser has tried to out-do the other over
the years. It's typically American for a
lot of people to suddenly be scared to
death that they may have lung cancer
because of smoking. If smoking really
does do that then they've got it—so why
get upset? They should go ahead and
finish the job! But people do stampede
from one thing to another, and this par-
ticular monster which the cigarette peo-
ple built throug htheir own advertising
will now cost them additional millions
to disprove through expensive and time
consuming research. The moral is that
truth in advertising pays and that truth
must be championed by the honest re-
tailer who is in business for a fair prof-
it and for which he renders an honest
service to the consumers of his com-
munity.
Supreme Court Decision
Untruthful Advertising
Untruthful advertising inflicts great
injustices on the public and on honest
retailers. People who seek out vendors
who promise "something for nothing".
or the "same for less", are almost al-
ways victimized and their resulting re-
sentment serves not only to undermine
their faith in good advertising, but their
trust of retailers in general is shaken. As
long as there are people, there will al-
ways be those who will look for "some-
thing for nothing". It is a human trait.
That is why it is an obligation of honest
and legitimate retailers to try to con-
vince the buying public that they get ex-
actly what they pay for. There is no
short cut to quality. Silk purses cannot
be made from sows' ears, but a sow's
ear purse can be represented as silk.
Merchants who advertise wholesale
prices, or offer goods slightly above cost
and then don't deliver what they adver-
tise, undermine the entire structure of
retailing. Consumers gain the erroneous
impression that retailers make too much
money at their expense. They think the
retail mark-up is terrible in contrast
with the house where they can get fifty
percent off. We who represent the honest
retailer must continually sell the con-
sumer on the value of good merchan-
dise, the legitimate house, and the value
of a reputation upon which they may
depend.
22
Truth in advertising is a matter of
law. and is upheld by the Supreme
Court of the United States. A recent
decision of this court concerning truth-
ful advertising has been summarized as
follows:
Advertising must not create a mis-
leading general impression e v e n
though every statement, considered
separately, is literally true.
Advertising must be written for the
probable effect it creates on ordinary
minds. ,
Advertising must not obscure or con-
ceal material facts.
Advertising must not be contrived to
divert readers' attention from the true
nature of terms and conditions.
Advertising must be free from fraudu-
lent traps and strategems including
action different from what would re-
sult from a forthright disclosure of
the true nature of the offer.
You may now be wondering, how can
I enforce truth in advertising. Always
remember that when truth is on your
side you have a powerful ally. Action
is not too difficult to get when we appeal
to the proper sources.
Th agencies responsible for enforce-
ment of truth in advertising include; the
Federal Trade Commission, when inter-
state commerce is involved: The United
States Post Office Department, when the
mails have been used; State's Attorneys
when state laws have been violated; City
or Corporation counsels when local laws
or ordinances are involved.
Value of the
Better Business Bureau
When confronted with local problems
of this nature, which I believe are the
most common, too much cannot be said
for what is known as the Better Business
Bureau, generally referred to as the
BBB. These organizations are probably
the most militant of any group when it
comes to fighting unethical advertising.
The strength of a Better Business Bur-
eau is local businessmen, for it is un-
derwritten by local business. When a
BBB gets a pig by the tail they don't
turn it loose till it squeals.
In addition to the five definitions of
truth in advertising upheld by the U. S.
Supreme Court, Better Business Bureaus
add three more provisions. They arc:
misreprensentation may be by omission
of, or failure to state a material fact:
all advertising claims should be backed
by proof, and the burden of proof rests
upon the advertiser.
The BBB organizations are nation-
wide and you find them in most every
city of any size. I understand that there
are some cities in the south that do not
have such organizations. I don't know
whether this is typical or not. To get an
idea, would those of you who do have a
Better Busines Bureau raise your hand.
You can have a BBB if you and your
fellow merchants desire one. I am cer-
tain that all of you have a Chamber of
Commerce, and that organization could
be very instrumental in helping to or-
ganize a Better Business Bureau. If your
Chamber of Commerce is not interested,
a group with suffiient interest could start
one. You could either investigate the
possibility by visiting the BBB office in
a nearby city, or write to the Associa-
tion of Better Business Bureaus (405
Lexington Avenue, New York" 17, N. Y.)
in New York, for the guidance which
they could supply.
It has been my objective during this
discussion to show clearly the roads and
boundaries that establish the areas in
which individuals and groups may oper-
ate, and where they may not trespass in
the field of trade practices. The roads
that may be traveled by individuals
when seeking correction of unfair trad* 1
practices are clearly defined. Those
roads open to groups or organizations
like NAMM are plainly marked. The
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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, FEBRUARY,
1954