Passage 5
Advertising is a form of mass selling, and it is employed when
the use of direct, person-to-person selling is impractical, impossible, or
simply inefficient. It is to be distinguished from other activities and its aim
intended to persuade the public. Advertising techniques range
complexly from the publishing of simple, straightforward notices in the
classified-advertising columns of newspapers to the concerted use of newspapers,
magazines, television, radio, direct mail, and other communications media in the
course of a single advertising campaign. From its simple beginnings in ancient
times, advertising has turned into a worldwide industry. In the U.S. alone in
the late 1980s, approximately $120 billion was spent in a single year on
advertising to influence the purchase of commodities and services. Advertising
falls into two main categories: consumer advertising, directed to the final
purchaser, and trade advertising, in which the appeal is made to dealers through
trade Journals and other media. Both consumer and trade
advertising employ many specialized types of commercial persuasion. A relatively
minor, but important, form of advertising is institutional advertising, which is
designed mainly to build prestige and public respect for particular business
concerns as important institutions. Each year millions of dollars are spent on
institutional advertising. Another minor, but increasingly
popular, form of advertising is cooperative advertising. For example, makers of
milk, of pie, and of sausages sometimes jointly advertise this combination as an
ideal cold-weather breakfast. Advertising may be local,
national, or international in scope. The rates charged for the three different
levels of advertising vary sharply, particularly in newspapers. How many different scales can advertising be divided into