Mr. Edward S. Rogers, lecturer on the law of trade marks at the University of Michigan, tells a story of a housewife who, when asked in court how she usually called for a certain article, replied, "If I see it, I point to it, but if I don't see it, even if I have taken a special trip to purchase it, I don't ask for it. I never heard how to pronounce it and I don't want anyone to think I'm a fool." To its manufacturer the name of this product probably seems very easy to pronounce. An advertiser has no right to expect a person to inquire the correct pronunciation of the name of his product. No one will ever know how much business some con cerns lose because the names of their products are not easy to pronounce.
It is much easier to say "Tiffany's" than "Hart, Schaffner and Marx." An example of the shorten ing of a firm name is the now famous "B. V. D." A growing custom for a manufacturer with but one product is to include the name of the product in the name of the company producing it. It is asking the public a good deal more to remember Munsingwear, made by the Northwestern Knitting Company, than it is to remember Cream of Wheat, made by the Cream of Wheat Company.
8. Typical characters.—Well-known examples of typical characters, used to give individuality to a man ufacturer's advertising, are the Cream of Wheat chef, Gold Dust Twins, Swift's Little Cook, the Wool Soap children and the Quaker of Quaker Oats. In adopting a trade character some advertisers overlook the fact that the public is not prone to talk about the character unless the character has a name; further more, the name should preferably suggest the name of the thing advertised. The Gold Dust Twins are affectionately known by that title, and one cannot think of them without thinking also of Gold Dust. We know Phoebe Snow, but we may have to think twice to connect Phoebe Snow with the Lackawanna Railroad. The negro used by the Cream of Wheat Company has not been given a name; it would be easier for the public to talk about him if he had a name, stamped perhaps on his cap or apron.
An advertiser must remember that the first duty of a trade character is to identify his product. Some people attribute the comparative failure of the break fast food, "Force," to the fact that there was not in the minds of the people a clear relation between Sunny Jim and the product he attempted to advertise.
A trade character should be distinctive. Many ad vertisers attempt to use photographs of little girls in connection with their products. Very few people
recognize these as typical characters. They are not sufficiently distinctive. Even if the figure of a girl or woman is always clothed in the same way, unless the dress is as distinctive as the dress of the Old Dutch Cleanser character, for instance, the public may fail to recognize her.
While it is possible to move the character, one must be careful not to move it too much. The character of Sunny Jim was first used in the street cars in pro file. When the magazine advertising commenced, a front view was shown of his face, and the public be came acquainted with him all over again. While the Cream of Wheat negro is always shown in different positions, you have never seen his face in profile. His head is moved, but his expression and the three-quar ters view of his face have never been altered. Even to change his face to a full front view would prob ably make him look like another character to the reader. It is easier to identify a character by its form and by its clothing than by the eyes, nose and mouth. From this standpoint, the Old Dutch Cleanser char acter is easier to recognize than the Pompeian girl.
9. When typical characters are inadvisable.— Recognition of trade characters depends on repetition. Some local advertisers at different times have at tempted to use such characters, but have found their advertising appropriations were not extensive enough to force the characters into general recognition. Once a character is adopted for a particular product, no piece of advertising for that product should• be without the character. It is necessary, therefore, for the advertiser to consider carefully if there are any cases in which the introduction of this character might embarrass him. Adopting a typical character for your product is like adopting a child in your home. You should first make certain that the child is or will be everything you expect of him and then you should treat him as a part of your family.
10. Requirements of a is customary among many advertisers to pick out some selling phrase and to use it in all advertisements. Some ad vertisers believe a slogan is only a clever, flippant phrase with which to identify a product. Others base their entire sales efforts on slogans. Some use the same phrase indefinitely thruout the life of a business, while others use a phrase for five or ten years and then take up another one.