John Singleton, “Like the garage attendant picture, it isn’t true,”
The Australian, March 5, 1974, p. 23.

Advertising is misunderstood by the general public — which isn’t surprising because it is equally misused and misunderstood by its practitioners.

And this isn’t surprising because the advertising business can attract a very low culture of businessman.

Further, it isn’t surprising either when you consider how little money can be made out of an advertising agency anyway. The average agency averages less than 3 per cent pre-tax profit on its turnover. That’s no way to get rich.

And in the next five years the chances of even making a living will disappear for most of the traditional agencies because there is no place in the future for traditional advertising which is about 90 per cent of the waste you will see on TV tonight.

In the early days advertising was used to tell people about new products and services. If people wanted what was being advertised they bought. If they didn’t, they didn’t.

But then people started to copy ideas, as people are inclined to do.

And other people used advertising not to inform but to persuade, con and lie to the public about their product, that their product, which really was exactly the same as the one next door and the one down the road, was in fact, whiter, brighter, faster, slower or whatever the persuaders believed the people would believe.

And the people did believe it all. For about 50 years: which is a long time for any racket to last. But now the people no longer believe.

They don’t believe it when all the gas station attendants are pictured as ever-loving ballerinas because every time they go into a garage they know the guy treats you like dirt.

No one smiles. No one pumps up your tyres. The advertisement is not an advertisement. The advertisement is a lie.

And the customer knows it and she doesn’t believe, so she doesn’t buy so this is what will happen.

All the parity products will be manufactured and sold by the giant retail chains. The me-toos from that national manufacturers will be thrown out.

The national manufacturers will be forced to realise that people’s wants and needs are always changing both rationally and emotively and they will expand their marketing funds in the development of new styles which are unique and wanted.

The advertising will tell the people about the product and it will again be believed and acted upon. The future of the advertising business is just that clear and just that simple. Yet so few people see it. But when people do see it the rewards are huge.

Instead of advertising that your soup is good, better, best, you invent a new soup, and it becomes a market leader even though they have never advertised before.

Instead of saying that your houses are best and easiest to buy, you really design them so they are, and make 3.5 million profit in only three years of operation.

Instead of saying your TV set is the best you prove it with a four-year free service warranty, and become natural market leaders.

Instead of saying that your insurance company is friendly you offer products that people can understand and become the biggest media spender in Australia.

Instead of saying that David Jones is the place to buy fashion you create the annual DJ’s nationally televised Fashion Awards and people say it for you.