the interlapping group formations of society, the continuous shifting of groups, changing conditions and the flexibility of human nature are all aids to the counsel on public relations

the public relations counsel works with public opinion. public opinion is the product of individual minds. individual minds make up the group mind. and the established order of things is maintained by the inertia of the group. three factors make it possible for the public relations counsel to overcome even this inertia. these are, first, the interlapping group formation of society; second, the continuous shifting of groups; third, the changed physical conditions to which groups respond. all of these are brought about by the natural inherent flexibility of individual human nature.

society is not divided into two groups, although it seems so to many. some see modern society divided into capital and labor. the feminist sees the world divided into men and women. the

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hungry man sees the rich and the poor. the missionary sees the heathen and the faithful. if society were divided into two groups, and no more, then change could come about only through violent upheaval.

let us assume, for example, a society divided into capital and labor. it is apparent on slight inspection that capital is not a homogeneous group. there is a difference in point of view and in interests between elbert h. gary or john d. rockefeller, jr., on the one hand, and the small shopkeeper on the other.

occasions arise, too, upon which even in one group sharp differences and competitive alignments take place.

in the capital group, on the tariff question, for example, the retailer with a net income of ten thousand dollars a year is apt to take a radically different position from the manufacturer with a similar income. in some respects the capitalist is a consumer. in other respects he is a worker. many persons are at the same time workers and capitalists. the highly paid worker who also draws income from liberty bonds or from shares of stock in industrial corporations is an example of this.

on the other hand, the so-called workers do not consist of a homogeneous group with complete identity of interests. there may be no difference

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in economic situation between manual labor and mental labor; yet there is a traditional difference in point of view which keeps these two groups far apart. again, the narrower field of manual labor, the group represented by the american federation of labor, is frequently opposed in sympathies and interests to the group of industrial workers of the world. even in the american federation of labor there are component units. the locomotive engineer, who belongs to one of the great brotherhoods, has different interests from the miner, who belongs to the united mine workers of america.

the farmer is in a class by himself. yet he in turn may be a tenant farmer or the owner of an estate or of a small patch of tillable soil.

that group so vaguely called “the public” consists of all sorts and conditions of men, the particular kind or condition depending upon the point of view of the individual who is making the observation or classification. this is true likewise of great and small subdivisions of the public.

the public relations counsel must take into account that many groups exist, and that there is a very definite interlapping of groups. because of this he is enabled to utilize many types of appeal in reaching any one group, which he sub-divides for his purposes.

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the federation for the support of jewish charities recently instituted a campaign to raise millions of dollars for what it called its united building fund. the directors of that campaign might have subdivided society for their purpose into two groups, the jewish and the non-jewish group, or they might have decided that there were rich people who could give and poor people who could not give. but they realized the interlapping nature of the groups they wanted to reach. they analyzed these component groups closely and divided them into groups which had common business interests. for instance, they organized a group of dentists, a group of bankers, a group of real estate operators, a group of cloak-and-suit-house operators, a group of motion picture and theatrical owners and others.

through an approach to each group on the strongest appeal to which the members of the group as a group would respond, the charity received the support of the individuals who made it up. the social aspirations of the group, the ambitions for leadership of the group, the competitive desires and philanthropic tendencies of the individuals who made up these groups were capitalized.

the interlapping nature of these groups made it possible, too, for the public relations counsel to reach all the individuals by appeals that were

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directed not merely to the individual as a member of the business group with which he was aligned, but also as a member of a different group. for instance, as a humanitarian, as a public-spirited citizen, or as a devoted jew. because of this interlapping characteristic of groups, the organization was able to accomplish its purpose more successfully.

society is made up of an almost infinite number of groups, whose various interests and desires overlap and interweave inextricably. the same man may be at the same time the member of a minority religious sect, supporter of the dominant political party, a worker in the sense that he earns his living primarily by his labor, and a capitalist in the sense that he has rents from real estate investments or interest from financial investments. in an issue which involves his religious sect he will align himself with one group. in an issue which involves the choice of a president of the united states he aligns himself with another group. in an industrial issue between capital and labor it might be very nearly impossible to estimate in advance how he would align himself. it is from the constant interplay of these groups and of their conflicting interests upon each other that progress results, and it is this fact that the public relations counsel takes into account in pleading his cause. a movement

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called “the go-getters,” instituted by a magazine, as much to keep itself before the public eye as to stimulate commercial activity, found rapid acceptance throughout the country because it appealed to trades of every description, because each group had among its members men who belonged also to a large group, the group of salesmen.

let us examine for a moment the personnel of the horseshoe at the metropolitan opera house. it is composed of people who are rich, but this economic classification is only one, for the men and women who assemble there are presumably music lovers. but we may again break up this classification of music lovers and discover that this group contains art lovers as well. it contains sportsmen. it contains merchants and bankers. there are philosophers in it. there are motorists and amateur farmers. when the russian ballet came to america the essential parts of this group attended the performances, but in going after his public, the public relations counsel based his actions upon the interlapping of groups, and appealed to his entire possible audience through their various interlapping group interests. the art lover had been stimulated by hearing of the ballet through his art group or the art publications and by seeing pictures of the costumes and the settings. the music lover,

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who might have had his interest stimulated through seeing a photograph, also had his interest stimulated by reading about the music.

every individual heard of the russian ballet in terms of one or more different appeals and responded to the ballet because of these appeals. it is naturally difficult to say which one of them had its strongest effect upon the individual’s mind. there was no doubt, however, that the interlapping group formation of society made it possible for more to be reached and to be moved than would have been the case if the ballet had been projected on the world at large only as a well-balanced artistic performance.

the utilization of this characteristic of society was shown recently in the activities of a silk firm which desired to intensify the interest of the public in silks. it realized that fundamentally women were its potential buying public, but it understood, too, that the women who made up this public were members of other groups as well. thus, to the members of women’s clubs, silk was projected as the embodiment of fashion. to those women who visited museums, silk was displayed there as art. to the schools in the same town, perhaps, silk became a lesson in the natural history of the silkworm. to art clubs, silk became color and design. to newspapers, the

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events that transpired in the silk mills became news matters of importance.

each group of women was appealed to on the basis of its greatest interest. the school teacher was appealed to in the schoolroom as an educator, and after school hours as a member of a women’s club. she read the advertisements about silk as a woman reader of the newspapers, and as a member of the women’s group which visited the museums, saw the silk there. the woman who stayed at home was brought into contact with the silk through her child. all these groups made up the potential market for silk, reached in this way in terms of many appeals to each individual. these are the implications present for the public relations counsel, who must take into account the interchange and interplay of groups in pleading his cause.

for society, the interesting outcome of this situation is that progress seldom occurs through the abrupt expulsion by a group of its old ideas in favor of new ideas, but rather through the rearrangement of the thought of the individuals in these groups with respect to each other and with respect to the entire membership of society.

it is precisely this interlapping of groups—the variety, the inconsistency of the average man’s mental, social and psychological commitments which makes possible the gradual change from

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one state of affairs or from one state of mind to another. few people are life members of one group and of one group only. the ordinary person is a very temporary member of a great number of groups. this is one of the most powerful forces making for progress in society because it makes for receptivity and open-mindedness. the modification which results from the inconstancy of individual commitments may be accelerated and directed by conscious effort. these changes which come about so stealthily that they remain unobserved in society until long after they have taken place, can be made to yield results in chosen directions.

changed external conditions must be taken into account by the public relations counsel in his work.

such changes carry with them modifications in the interests and points of view of those they affect. they make it possible to modify group and individual reaction. the public relations counsel, too, can modify the results of the changed external condition by calling attention to it or interpreting it in terms of the interest of those affected.

the radio might be taken as an example. in considering the radio from the standpoint of his work, the public relations counsel has a new medium which can readily reach huge sections of

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the public with his message. the public relations counsel must be ready to estimate, too, what difference in viewpoint the radio will produce or has produced in any given section of the public it reaches. he will have to consider, for instance, that due to it the average farmer is much more closely in contact with the world’s events than formerly.

in the case of the radio, too, if his clients be, for instance, large manufacturers of radio supplies and demand acceleration of this changed external condition in order to increase their business, he may enlarge the radio’s field, activity and effectiveness. or, he may stress to the public the importance of this new instrument and strengthen its prestige, so that it may better fulfill its mission as a modifier of conditions.

changed conditions can make possible modifications in the public point of view, as can be instanced by a campaign carried on by savings banks to encourage thrift. this campaign was successful at that time because inflation made it easy for the public to see the wisdom of the doctrines preached and to act upon them.

another example of this modification in the public point of view due to a changed condition was the demand made by the executive committee of the central trades and labor council of new york for the government to take over

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the railways of the country. public ownership had been a pet subject for school debate for more than two decades, but it had seldom passed into the field of serious consideration by the general public. yet the conditions of hardship created by the last strike of the railroad shopmen caused a much greater receptivity in the public mind to this idea.

the airplane slowly emerges as an important factor in the daily life of the people. what it will mean in the psychology of the nation when commuters can settle within a radius of a hundred or more miles of cities is only to be guessed at. cities may cease to exist except as industrial centers. there will be greater groups and broader interests. there will be fewer geographic divisions.

when the automobile was first used motoring was a dangerous and thrilling sport. to-day it is found that the automobile has altered the fundamental conception of daily life held by thousands of people, both in the urban and the rural population. the automobile has removed much of the isolation of country districts. it has increased the possibility of education in them. it has caused millions of miles of excellent roads to be laid.

changed conditions can be national or local in their import and significance. they can be as

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national in scope as the revolutionary introduction over night of a national prohibition law or as local as a police captain’s edict in coney island against stockingless feminine bathers. but they must be taken into consideration by the public relations counsel in his work if they concern in the slightest degree his particular public.

the basic elements of human nature are fixed as to desires and instincts and innate tendencies. the directions, however, in which these basic elements may be turned by skillful handling are infinite. human nature is readily subject to modification. many psychologists have attempted to define the component parts of human nature, and while their terminology is not the same, they do follow more or less the same general outlines.

among the universal instincts are—self-preservation, which includes the desire for shelter, sex hunger and food hunger. it is only necessary to look through the pages of any magazine to see the way in which modern business avails itself of these three fundamentals to exert a coercive force upon the public it is trying to reach. the american radiator advertisement with its cozy home, the family gathered around the radiator, the storm raging outside, definitely makes its appeal to the universal desire for shelter.

the gulden mustard advertisements with their graphic delineation of cold cuts and an inviting

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glass of what is presumably near-beer definitely appeal to our gustatory sense.

as for the sex appeal, the soap advertisements run a veritable race with these ends in view. woodbury’s “the skin you love to touch” is a graphic illustration.

the instinct of self-preservation, one of the most basic of human instincts, is most flexible. the dispensers of raisins, upon the advice of an expert on public opinion, adopted a slogan to appeal to this instinct: “have you had your iron to-day?”—iron presumably strengthening a man and increasing his powers of resistance. the same man appealed to here will respond to the sales talk which persuades him that insurance may save him at a time of need.

an important hair-net manufacturer wanted to increase the sales of his product. the public relations counsel, therefore, appealed to the instinct of self-preservation of large groups of the public. he talked of self-preservation with respect to hygiene for food dispensers. he talked of self-preservation with respect to safety for women who work near exposed machinery.

the same instinct of preservation which may cause a worker to give up necessary food so that he may save a little money will cause him to contribute money to a common fund if he can be shown that this too is a safety measure.

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the public relations counsel extracts from his clients’ causes ideas which will capitalize certain fundamental instincts in the people he is trying to reach, and then sets about to project these ideas to his public.

william macdougall, the psychologist, classifies seven primary instincts with their attendant emotions. they are flight-fear, repulsion-disgust, curiosity-wonder, pugnacity-anger, self-display-elation, self-abasement-subjection, parental-love-tenderness. these instincts are utilized by the public relations counsel in developing ideas and emotions which will modify the opinions and actions of his public.

the action of public health officials in stressing the possibility of a plague or epidemic is effective because it appeals to the emotion of fear, and presents the possibility of preventing the spread of the epidemic or plague. of course, the element of flight in this particular situation is not one of movement, but of a desire to get away from the danger.

the instinct of repulsion with its attendant emotion of disgust is not often called upon by the public relations counsel in his work.

on the other hand, curiosity and wonder are continually employed. in governmental work, particularly, the statesman who has an announcement to make is continually exhausting every

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effort to arouse public interest in advance of the actual announcement. feelers are often sent out to the public to help create curiosity.

it is interesting to note, too, that even book publishers rely upon the element of wonder, termed suspense in drama, to increase their public and their sales. our now famous “what is wrong with this picture?” advertisements, and those used for the o. henry books illustrate this point.

pugnacity with its attendant emotion of anger is a human constant. the public relations counsel uses this continually in constructing all kinds of events that will call it into play. because of it, too, he is often forced to enact combats and create issues. he stages battles against evils in which the antagonist is personified for the public. new york city, when it wants to reduce the death rate from tuberculosis, aligns its citizens yearly in a fight against the disease and continues the idea of combat by announcing the number of victims from year to year. it uses the terminology of warfare in these bulletins. such phrases in this or other health campaigns as “kill the germs,” “swat the fly,” illustrate this point. the public responds to a battle in a way that it might not respond to a plea to take care of itself or to do its civic duty.

under pugnacity would come that technique

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of the public relations counsel which is continually devising tests and contests. mr. martin, in his experience as director of the cooper union forum, noticed that the sort of interest which will most easily bring an assemblage of people together is most commonly an issue of some kind.

on the one hand, says mr. martin:28 “i have seen efforts made in new york to hold mass meetings to discuss affairs of the very greatest importance, and i have noted the fact that such efforts usually fail to get out more than a handful of specially interested persons, no matter how well advertised, if the subject to be considered happens not to be of a controversial nature. on the other hand, if the matter to be considered is one about which there is keen partisan feeling and popular resentment—if it lends itself to the spectacular personal achievement of one whose name is known, especially in the face of opposition or difficulties—or if the occasion permits of resolutions of protest, of the airing of wrongs, of denouncing a business of some kind, or of casting statements of external principles in the teeth of ‘enemies of humanity,’ then, however trivial the occasion, we may count on it that our meeting will be well attended.

“it is this element of conflict, directly or indirectly,

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which plays an overwhelming part in the psychology of every crowd. it is the element of contest which makes baseball so popular. a debate will draw a larger crowd than a lecture. one of the secrets of the large attendance of the forum is the fact that discussion—‘talking back’—is permitted and encouraged. the evangelist sunday undoubtedly owes the great attendance at his meetings in no small degree to the fact that he is regularly expected to abuse some one.

“nothing so easily catches general attention and creates a crowd as a contest of any kind. the crowd unconsciously identifies its members with one or the other competitor. success enables the winning crowd to ‘crow’ over the losers. such an occasion becomes symbolic and is utilized by the ego to enhance its feeling of importance.”

the public relations counsel finds in the instinct of pugnacity a powerful weapon for enlisting public support for or public opposition to a point of view in which he is interested. on this principle, he will, whenever possible, state his case in the form of an issue and enlist, in support of his side, such forces as are available.

the dangers of the method must be recognized and borne in mind. pugnacity can be enlisted on the side of decency and progress. he who looks at it from that point of view will agree

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with mr. pulitzer, the great publisher, that it seems neither extraordinary nor culpable that “people and press should be more interested in the polemical than in the platitudinous; in blame than in painting the lily; in attack than in sending laudatory coals to newcastle.” on the other hand, the instinct of pugnacity can be utilized to suppress and to oppress. from the point of view of the public relations counsel, who is interested from day to day in accomplishing definite results on specific issues, the dangers of the method are only the ordinary dangers of every weapon, physical or psychological, which has been devised.

it is interesting in this connection to note that a newspaper uses the same methods to encourage interest in itself as do others. the new york times promoted public interest in heavier-than-air-machines by creating sporting issues of contests between aviators on altitude records, continuous stays in the air, distance flying and so forth.

mr. lippmann comments on this same characteristic:

“but where pugnacity is not enlisted, those of us who are not directly involved find it hard to keep up our interest. for those who are involved the absorption may be real enough to hold them even when no issue is involved. they may be

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exercised by sheer joy in activity or by subtle rivalry or invention. but for those to whom the whole problem is external and distant, these other faculties do not easily come into play. in order that the faint image of the affair shall mean something to them, they must be allowed to exercise the love of struggle, suspense, and victory.”29

we have to take sides. we have to be able to take sides. in the recesses of our being we must step out of the audience onto the stage and wrestle as the hero for the victory of good over evil. we must breathe into the allegory the breath of our life.

recently a philanthropic group was advised to hold a prize fight for charity. this recognition of the importance of the principle of pugnacity was correct. it is a question whether the application was not somewhat ill advised and in bad taste. the consumer’s committee of women opposed to american valuation was avowedly aligned to fight against a section of the tariff presented by chairman fordney. the lucy stone league, a group who wish to make it easy for married women to maintain their maiden names, dramatized the fight that they are making against tradition by staging a debate at their annual banquet.

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very often the public relations counsel utilizes the self-display-elation motive and draws public attention to particular people in groups, in order to give them a greater interest in the work they are espousing. it is often found to be true that when a man’s adherence or allegiance to a movement is lukewarm and he is publicly praised for his adherence to it, he will become a forceful factor in it. that is why the intelligent hospital boards name rooms or beds after their donors. it is one of the reasons for the elaborate letterheads so many of our philanthropic organizations have.

self-abasement and subjection, its attendant emotion, are seldom called upon. on the other hand, parental love and tenderness are continually employed, viz., the effort of the baby-kissing candidate for public office or the attempt to popularize a brand of silk by having a child present a silk flag to a war veteran at a public ceremony. the whole flood of post-war charity-drives was keyed to this pitch. the starving belgian orphan personified in every picture, the starving armenian, and then the hungry austrian and german orphans appeared, and the campaigns all succeeded on this issue. even issues where the child was not the predominant factor used this appeal.

four other instincts are listed in this classification—gregariousness,

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individualism, acquisition and construction. we have already dealt with the first at length.

the gregarious instinct in man gives the public relations counsel the opportunity for his most potent work. the group and herd show everywhere the leader, who because of certain qualifications, certain points that are judged by the herd to be important to its life, stands out and is followed more or less implicitly by it.

a group leader gains such power with his group or herd that even on matters which have had nothing to do with the establishment or gaining of that leadership he is considered a leader and is followed by his group.

it is this attribute of men and women that again gives the public relations counsel free play.

a group leader of any given cause will bring to a new cause all those who have looked to his leadership. for instance, if the adherence of a prominent republican is secured for the league of nations, his adherence will probably bring to the league of nations many other prominent republicans.

the group leadership with which the public relations counsel may work is limited only by the character of the groups he desires to reach. after an analysis of his problem the subdivisions must be made. his action depends upon his selective

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capacity, and the possibility of approach to the leaders. these leaders may represent therefore a wide variety of interests—society leaders or leaders of political groups, leaders of women or leaders of sportsmen, leaders of divisions by geography, or divisions by age, divisions by language or by education. these subdivisions are so numerous that there are large companies in the united states whose business it is to supply lists of groups and group leaders in different fields.

this same mechanism is carried out in many other cases. in looking for group leaders, the public relations counsel must realize that some leaders have more varied and more intensified authority than others. one leader may represent the ideals and ideas of several or numerous groups. his coöperation on one basis may bring into alignment and may carry with it the other groups who are interested in him primarily for other reasons.

the public relations counsel, let us say, enlists the support of a man, president of two associations; (a) an economic association, (b) a welfare association. the issue is an economic one, purely. but because of his leadership, the membership of association (b), that is, the welfare group, joins him in the movement as interestedly as

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association (a) does, which has the more logical, direct reason for entering the field.

i have given this in general terms rather than as a specific instance. the principle which governs the interlapping and continually shifting group formation of society also governs the gregariousness.

individualism, another instinct, is a concomitant of gregariousness, and naturally follows it. the desire for individual expression is always a trait of the individuals who go to make up the group. the appeal to individualism goes closely in hand with other instincts, such as self-display.

the instincts of acquisition and construction are minor instincts as far as the ordinary work of the public relations counsel is concerned. examples of this type of appeal come readily to mind in the “own your own home” and “build your own home” campaigns.

the innate tendencies are susceptibility to suggestion, imitation, habit and play. susceptibility to suggestion and imitation might well be classified under gregariousness, which we have already discussed.

under habit would come one very important human trait of which the public relations counsel avails himself continually. the mechanism which habit produces and which makes it possible

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for the public relations counsel to use habit is the stereotype we have already touched upon.

mental habits create stereotypes just as physical habits create certain definite reflex actions. these stereotypes or reflex images are a great aid to the public relations counsel in his work.

these short-cuts to reactions make it possible for the average mind to possess a much larger number of impressions than would be possible without them. at the same time these stereotypes or clichés are not necessarily truthful pictures of what they are supposed to portray. they are determined by the outward stimuli to which the individual has been subject as well as by the content of his mind.

to most of us, for example, the stereotype of the general is a stern, upright gentleman in uniform and with gold braid, preferably on a horse. the stereotype of a farmer is a slouching, overall-clad man with straw sticking out of his mouth and a straw hat on his head. he is supposed to be very shrewd when it comes to matters of his own farm and very ignorant when it comes to matters of culture. he despises “city fellers.” all this is the connotation brought up by the one word “farmer.”

the public relations counsel sometimes uses the current stereotypes, sometimes combats them and sometimes creates new ones. in using them he

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very often brings to the public he is reaching a stereotype they already know, to which he adds his new ideas, thus he fortifies his own and gives a greater carrying power. for instance, the public relations counsel might well advise austria, which in the public mind might still represent a belligerent country, to bring forward other austrian stereotypes, namely the danube waltz stereotype and the danube blue stereotype. an appeal for help would then come from the country of the well-liked danube waltz and danube blue—the country of gayety and charm. the new idea would be carried to those who accepted the stereotypes they were familiar with.

the combating of the stereotype is seen in the battle waged against the american valuation plan by the public relations counsel. the formulators of the plan dubbed it “american valuation” in order to capitalize on the stereotype of “american.” in fighting the plan, its opponents put the word “american” in quotation marks whenever reference was made to the subject in order to question the authenticity of the use of this stereotype. thus patriotism was definitely removed from what was evidently an economical and political issue.

the public relations counsel creates new stereotypes. roosevelt, his own best adviser, was an apt creator of such stereotypes—“square deal,

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de-lighted, molly-coddle, big stick,” created new concepts for general acceptance.

stereotypes sometimes become shop-worn and lose their power with the public that has previously accepted them. “hundred per cent american” died from over use.

visible objects as stereotypes are often used by the public relations counsel with great effectiveness to produce the desired impression. a national flag on the orator’s platform is a most common device. a scientist must of necessity be in juxtaposition with his instruments. a chemist is not a chemist to the public unless test tubes and retorts are near him. a doctor must have his kit, or, formerly, a van dyke beard. in photographs of food factory buildings white is a good stereotype for cleanliness and purity. in fact, all emblems and trade-marks are stereotypes.

there is one danger in the use of stereotypes by the public relations counsel. that is, by the substitution of words for acts, demagogues in every field of social relationship can take advantage of the public.

play as an innate tendency is utilized by the public relations counsel whenever conditions merit such an appeal. when a charity committee is advised to institute a street fair to gather

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money, the committee is recognizing this tendency. when a city government arranges fireworks for its citizens, when a metropolitan news-daily stages marble contests or horseshoe pitching events, the play tendency of human society finds an outlet and the initiators of the event find friends.