Religion is opinion Advertising should be based on facts. Religion must continue in the realm of Opinion, because no one can decide which Creed is right;, and which wrong, till he dies and finds out the facts for himself. And no mere man who died has ever come back to Earth to settle the dispute. But, it is different with Advertising, as it is with Mechanics or with Medicine, all three of which can be conclusively tested.

Many Advertisers, seem satisfied to spend their money on mere Opinions about Advertising when they might have invested it on Evidence about Advertising. These are the Advertisers whose business must die before they can be convinced that general publicity (merely keeping the name before the people) is wrong and Salesmanship-on-paper right.

No company would give a salesperson a commission over a report from him that he was “Influencing Sales” for their other salesmen. What the advertising mployer would demand from his Salesman would be profitable Orders. He would demand Sales, clearly made by the Salesman himself, each sale carrying a given profit over cost for the employer. That is just what the advertising employer should demand from his advertising expenditure, too-Sales-proven Sales, carrying a satisfactory profit. And, if he insists upon it he can get the kind of advertising which will actually produce sales instead of a vague “General Influence on Sales.”

Advertising is and should be “Salesmanship-on-paper.” If it is anything less than Salesmanship it is not real Advertising, but only “name recognition.” And, “General Publicity” admittedly claims only to “Brand,” to make sales easier for the salespeople.

Faulty ads make the same lame excuses as would be made by a Salesman who failed to earn his salary by actually selling goods. But branding, or any other Advertising, should be judged by the same standards as the Salesperson is judged, by the products it is clearly proven to sell and the return on investment it generates