Position values are studied carefully by the ad vertiser in his desire to have his advertisement seen. Give an experienced advertiser his choice of position and he will usually select the top of a column, the right hand page, next to the reading matter asso ciated with the advertisement. If he uses a full page magazine advertisement, the back cover, the inside front, or the inside back would usually be chosen, in the order given. Right hand pages, near the begin ning of the magazine stand high in favor. "Spreads," advertisements occupying two opposite pages, are thought by some advertisers to lack the distinction that should come from space, as it is possible that the reader may pass by opposite pages without even glancing at_ them.
9. Motion.—There is nothing so interesting in life as motion. That is why anything in motion involun tarily attracts attention. This is also the basic reason for the success of many advertising displays, which not only attract the attention but impress the value of the product upon the customer. Motion is sug gested in an illustration by making the reader im agine that the article is moving.
The ideal advertising display is one in which the motion features some exclusive characteristic of the product advertised. The figure of a man using a safety razor attracts attention, but it advertises all safety razors, not merely the particular one. The fig ure of a doll apparently running a sewing machine approaches the ideal display more closely, as it adver tises an "easy running" sewing machine. The rep resentation of steaming water running out of a faucet to advertise an instantaneous water heater; of a neatly dressed woman with a -cheerful face, ironing with an electric and many others of this sort are made effective by suggested action.
One method of indicating "movement" is to draw white lines across black letters, the latter being set at an obtuse angle. This idea is brought out in the illustration which follows: A similar effect of speed can be shown by having let ters lean forward, that is, toward the right, and then blearing these letters as if a blotter had been rubbed across them from right to left.
Puffs of dust shown at the rear of a moving vehicle will give the effect of motion. Straight lines across the body of a vehicle will also show movement. In the case of simple objects like a wheel, speed can be indicated by omitting the spokes, and showing merely the rim by drawing straight and short horizontal lines, and a few more very short horizontal lines ahead of the rim to represent the surface over which it is travel ing.
Many automobile advertisements suggest action rather than repose. This not only attracts attention but is a means of emphasizing many points of supe riority—hill-climbing power, speed on rough lanes or mountain roads, stability or freedom from jar under adverse conditions and the like. • 10. Novelty and that is different from the ordinary will attract attention by stimulating curiosity. If this attention can be con verted into genuine interest in the product, then it succeeds in its purpose. The quaintness of the cos tume of the child in the Whitman's Sampler adver tisement, on page 38, stimulates the curiosity to ask what is in the box.
The unusual position and the lighter color of the circles in the underwear advertisement, on page 33, will stimulate the curiosity to find out why the circles are brought out so prominently.
11. headline is designed to at tract attention. If it is well conceived it will lead the reader on to find what the advertisement is all about. The headline is usually short, containing four or five words. If it is longer, it should be put in two or three lines. The following headlines are illustrative of good attention-getters: "Corns Check the Salesman," to advertise Blucj ay Corn Plasters..
"The $100,000 Man Who Went to School Again," to ad vertise the Alexander Hamilton Institute.
"The Hog Slanders the Hen," to advertise Sawtay Short ening.
"Tea for the Troopers," to advertise Lipton's Teas. "Ditched by the Glare," to advertise Osgood Deflector Lens.
"Once in Every Woman's Life," to advertise Colt's Fire arms.
"Good Food to Study On," to advertise Campbell's Soups. "Henry M. Stanley Went 30 Weeks Without a Shave," to advertise Gillette Safety Razors.
12. Teaser designation "teaser" is given to a class of advertising whose full meaning is re served until a time after the appearance of the ad vertisement. The teaser appeals openly to curiosity. Teaser advertisements, rightly written, make it pos sible for the advertiser to turn one of the most ful of human instincts to his own account. Such ad vertisements have the disadvantage that curiosity has little power to persist, diminishing rapidly as the ex citing power is removed.