Calvin Coolidge curbs billboard advertising

I was struck by a recent story about Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States who was said to have, among other things, curbed outdoor advertising.

Turns out this was part of his legacy while Governor of Massachusetts (1918-1920). While he was a Republican, “he supported a cost of living pay for public employees, limited the workweek for women and children to forty-eight hours, placed limits on outdoor advertising, and set up a state budgetary process -- all typical progressive measures.”



In an ironic twist, the outdoor advertising industry named a study after Coolidge. In 1965 C.E. HOOPER for Rollins Advertising Company conducted the Calvin Coolidge study in San Antonio to measure the effects of outdoor advertising. The study measured exposure to and effectiveness of billboards that stated "Calvin Coolidge Was The 30th President". A before an after telephone survey was conducted with 600 respondents who were asked two questions:

> Who was the 30th president? (test question)
> Who was the vice president under Eisenhower? (control question)

Correct answers to the test question were 28.3% after the advertising run up from 4.5% before. Correct answers to the control question remained at the same level, 67.8% before and 65.8% after. (The answer is Nixon btw.)

The Calvin Coolidge study has subsequently reproduced many with similar effect.

While Coolidge may have been cool on outdoor advertising, and cool in general, he was one of the first national politicians to make extensive use of radio and film media. He gave a record 529 press conferences; his inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio; he was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio; and was the first President to appear in a sound film.

I’d be curious if anyone knows why Coolidge tried to curb outdoor advertising and what effect this had on the industry. Drop a comment if you know.

Advertising is visual pollution

In a blow to the argument that consumers see more than 3,000 advertisements each day, Sao Paulo, Brazil, issued a ban on all outdoor advertising including billboards, outdoor video screens, blimps, shop-window signs, logos, and posters. As part of a wider initiative to curb garbage and pollution the advertising ban intends to eliminate what Sao Paulo's mayor, Gilberto Kassab, calls "visual pollution".

While many readers would agree that some ads are in bad taste, I have a hard time imagining standing in Times Square and looking around at buildings stripped of their flashing lights, neon and video screens. While the local advertising agencies have launched legal actions, it appears that many applaud the move.

This is the first time that a non-communist city has imposed such a rule… and enforced it with vigor. Apparently the law has been so successful that more than 15,000 billboards now stand empty.

If you want to see more, Tony de Marco has posted a video stream on Flickr. The story was broken on National Public Radio and covered by a number of online publications.

Temporal nature of advertising

I recently purchased a game called Adverteasing at a local thrift store. The game was made in 1988 by now defunct Canada Games Company under license from Rischer Enterprises. The game, very similar in game play to Trivial Pursuit, is completely focused on advertising slogans. It has 3,000 questions and is an amazing cultural artifact.

While I’m able to guess at the companies behind a few of the slogans, it is amazing how many companies are no longer in business. For those that are still in business, almost none of the slogans are used today. Here are a couple of examples, see if you can guess the answers (see the hint at the bottom of this post):

“It’s worth the trip”

• Miami Beach
• Cunard Lines
• Dunkin’ Donuts
• Delta Airlines

“Our strengths are legendary*”

• US Steel
• Navistar
• Samsonite
• Atlas Van Lines

“Washes clothes without rubbing”

• Fab
• Vivid
• Lively Polly Dry Soap
• Drive

“Does she…or doesn’t she?”

• Pond’s
• Lavoris
• Clairol
• Lady Speed Stick

“The Ultimate Driving Machine*”

• Jaguar
• Mercedes-Benz
• BMW
• Lotus

“The greatest show on earth*”

• Ice capades
• Circus of the Stars
• Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus
• Circus Circus

“Correct your skin faults”

• Pond’s
• Clean & Clear
• Dioxogen Cream (1937)
• Clearasil

*Those marked with an asterisk are still used in promotional copy today.

Trivia solving hint: always choose answer "c or #3" in a multiple choice quiz.

Engagement key in TV Advertising

Exposure to 3,000 advertisements each day does not guarantee that the average person saw the ad or was engaged with the advertising.

Copernicus Marketing writes in its monthly newsletter that in the space of television advertising:

“…the vehicle influences effectiveness at least as much as the commercial itself.”

When I started in technology advertising, the model was simple: buy the lowest cost per thousand (CPM) and watch the product fly off the shelves. Advertising space for consumer software was dominated by Ziff Davis’ PC Magazine, IDG’s PC World. If you owned a computer, or wanted to own a computer you read these magazines.

The overall spend on television advertising by companies in the USA is about $50-70 billion. With that much at stake, CPM is only one criterion for selection. Copernicus goes on to say:

“The best measure of involvement included a mix of…three types of indicators and confirmed that viewers highly involved in a program are far more likely to recall the advertising.”

The indicators they cite are:

1. Behavioral – size of room, distractions, number of people, previous view experience
2. Attitudinal – enjoyment, reflection of personal beliefs and values
3. Summary – rating of show, comparison to previous shows

The full article is available online:
http://www.copernicusmarketing.com/about/mzine/monthlyeds/jun07.html

The link between advertising and childhood obesity

Recent research suggests a link between what kids watch on TV and the actions that they take. Researchers from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand published a study that shows a link between junk food advertising and childhood obesity -- which some say is reaching epic proportions.

The Study has followed a group of around 1000 children born in Dunedin in 1972-73. Every two years between the ages of 5 and 15, they were asked how much television they watched. The researchers found that those who watched the most television had the most health problems as young adults. Those with higher television watching habits had higher levels of obesity, blood cholesterol and smoking - as well as lower levels of physical fitness - when they reached adulthood than kids who watched less than two hours a day.

The fat factor: the impact of advertising on kids

The Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit special interest group, recently released a report that says tweens see about 20 food advertisements every day. The foundation conducted media research on the viewing habits of kids aged 2-17 and compared that to the content of the advertising on the most popular television networks. The results suggest that while children are not exposed to 3,000 ads each day, there may be a link between television advertising and childhood obesity.

The study tracked shows watched by children ages two to 17 on 13 broadcast
and cable television networks in 2005, analysing the advertisement quantity and
content. Children saw many thousands of food ads a year, most touting
unhealthy products, it found.

• Children ages 8 to 12 viewed the most food ads – on average,
  21 daily and more than 7600 a year totalling nearly 51 hours.
• Those ages 13 to 17 viewed 17 food ads daily and more than 6000 a year totalling nearly 41 hours.
• Children ages two to seven saw 12 food ads daily and 4400 a year totalling
  almost 30 hours. These younger children watched less TV overall and were more
  likely to watch channels with limited or no advertising like PBS and Disney.
• Half of all ad time on children's shows was for food products – a higher
  proportion than for any type of show. About 80 per cent of these were for candy,
  snack foods like chips, sugary cereals, fast food, sodas and other soft drinks.
• The findings were based on a sample of 1638 hours of TV programming that
  included 8854 food ads. Some shows were specifically made for children and
  others not. Of all the ads, none touted fruits or vegetables.

The average American is exposed to...

In his blog, Publicity Times, Mr. Lonny Kocina reports that his Google research confirms, "that 97% of all statistics are made up on the spot." He writes that the numbers on advertising impressions range from a low of 247 to a high of 4,000. He was curious as to where the 3,000 number comes from but decided (in jest) to settle on his own number of 1,724 as he thought it was more believable.

Another reference to 3,000 advertisements

Referred to as a "flood", the number 3,000 advertisements appears in a 2001 Accenture whitepaper: Customer Segment Management: Moving One Step Closer to Nirvana ( http://tinyurl.com/hdznx). The paper argues companies need to adopt a customer-centric business model for three reasons: a flood of competing messages; ever-rising customer expectations; and mounting financial pressures.

The authors, Clive Whitehouse, Ruth E. Spencer and Michael Payne, suggest that the number of commercial messages competing for a customer's attention has risen to 3,000 per day in the US in 2000 up from 650 in 1985. They do not indicate their source of this information. This the change represents a 350% growth over 15 years. As you can see by the chart, the change in traditional media messages represents a 293% growth over this period.

The average American adult is aware of 76 advertisements a day in the major media

Two respected academics, reported in their book, Advertising in America: The Consumer View (1968), the average adult is aware of 76 ads each day. The authors, Stephen A. Greyser and Raymond A. Bauer, based their findings on interviews and a counting study with more than 1,500 adult individuals. Study participants were asked to count each advertisement in major media (magazines, newspapers, radio and television) to which he or she paid at least some attention.