Publicity Plans
The keystone in the arch of any successful campaign is effective publicity. This is obtained through newspapers, bulletins, circulars, buttons, rubber stamps, placards, posters, motion pictures, banners, trolley cars, bill boards and private advertising.
Cincinnati reports that no other factor contributed more to the success of its campaign than the newspapers. By giving daily reports of the progress of the work during clean-up week the press created a rivalry among the various wards.
In the Philadelphia campaign the total space devoted to newspaper publicity amounted to 14,225 lines, or 88 full length columns of printed matter, of one column a day for eleven days in each of the Philadelphia newspapers. For the benefit of the foreign born the same information was printed in every foreign newspaper published in that city. Cartoonists depicted Clean-up Week as a family affair and showed it to be a real pleasure as well as a necessity. The editorial writers in a more serious vein urged the necessity of cooperation and pointed the way to communal benefits to follow.
Bulletins, properly distributed, are effective in arousing civic pride and procuring the cooperation of householders. The first should be the official proclamation by the Mayor. The Mayor of Kirkville, Illinois, gave this advice in his proclamation:
If your store is dingy—paint it.
If your awning is ragged and old, get a new one.
If your walk is an eyesore to those traveling over it, repair it or have a new one.
If there are unsightly traps in front of your property, or broken limbs, burn them.
If in your back yard there are old, tumble-down sheds, tear them down. The ground is too valuable, and such things detract from the beauty of the home—and the town.
Clean out all barnyards and stables at once. Don’t give the flies a chance to breed.
Clean out the alleys back of your homes.
Take all rubbish and ashes from your back yard immediately.
By all means do your part to make Kirkville a cleaner and more beautiful city.
Some cities have obtained good results with circular letters signed by some public official. These are usually sent to the various organizations, ministers and physicians, asking them to urge the cooperation of their members, congregations or the households they visit.
A few cities have adopted the plan of sending letters to all advertisers and every concern known to manufacture, advertise or sell any kind of an article used for cleaning purposes, requesting them to increase the amount of local publicity.
New York City in one campaign used four million circulars printed in five languages. One circular reads as follows:
“To every owner, occupant, representative of any building, apartment, room, yard or vacant lot: You are hereby notified to prepare and place within the stoop line for removal all rubbish and waste material, from lots, lofts, fire escapes, cellars, yards, alleys, air shafts, rooms and apartments. Old bedding, rugs, paper, furniture, broken-up boxes, and barrels; glassware should be placed in barrels, boxes and bundles. It is against the law to throw materials in the streets. Neglect to comply with this notice will result in prosecution. The wagons will call at 8 A. M. Wednesday, May 20.”
Placards bearing the silhouette figure of William Penn majestically swinging a broom over the city from his dizzy perch on top of the City Hall appeared in every one of the 3200 trolley cars during a Philadelphia campaign. These were placed in the front and rear entrances in such a way that only the figure was visible from the outside. The appearance of the black and white sketch minus title or descriptive matter of any kind was perplexing to the passengers on entering the car, and they immediately looked at the reverse side for an explanation. They got it in the form of an announcement for the annual Clean-up Week, with just enough information and advice to be profitable, and most effective. This same figure was also distributed among the schools, libraries, railroad stations and other prominent places.
In various cities buttons are distributed bearing such inscriptions as “Clean Up and Paint Up. I Will, Will You?” and “Scoot Home and Scrub.” Slogans are usually selected after competition for a prize by the school children.
Among the most effective posters used are window signs to call rubbish carts, and cards to be placed in the windows of homes. One house poster announced “We are Assisting in the Clean-Up and Paint-Up Campaign. Are You?” Posters have also been used in street cars, and on wagons and motor trucks. Fire warning cards have been sent by some cities to cigar stores, fireproof material manufacturers, and gas companies.
Rochester, New York, was one of the first cities to have fire warnings printed on caps for milk bottles. Others have used the backs of transfer tickets issued by street railway companies. One of the most effective fire warnings read: “See that your good cigar or cigarette does not cause a bad fire.” Philadelphia distributed blotters among the school children. In Toledo the school children, dressed as little White Wings, carried banners bearing the inscription “B-R-I-G-H-T-E-N U-P.” The bill posting companies, in some instances, donate space for the use of large posters. Street cars and station platforms are also utilized in an effort to attract the attention of citizens to do their duty cleaning their premises. The delivery forces of department stores and milk companies are pressed into service, each wagon being supplied with pamphlets and cards to be left with each package or bottle of milk.
Motion pictures and lantern slides showing the ravages of the fly, and actual conditions existing from dirt are an important factor in bringing the necessity for cleanliness before citizens and school children. By way of stimulating effort in the school children of Kewanee, Illinois, motion pictures were shown depicting the success of children in beautifying their school grounds and gardens in other cities. The members of the New York Street Cleaning Department gave illustrated lectures during the Clean-Up Campaigns. On the screens of 205 motion picture theaters in Philadelphia were shown nightly for four weeks attractively arranged slides telling the audience what to do and how to do it. The “Before” and “After” clean-up pictures proved very popular and instructive. Because of the great popularity of motion pictures this form of advertising is especially effective. The general secretary of the campaign in Cincinnati had prepared a set of lantern slides from photographs one year and these were used to illustrate addresses given the next year.
In all large cities there is much private advertising during these campaigns. In some, the regular advertising pages of the newspapers for weeks have individual advertisements of department stores, calling attention to the reduced prices of articles used for cleaning purposes. The more enterprising managers try to outrival each other in the amount of space covered.
Rochester, New York, one of the pioneer cities in the organization of the clean-up movement, arranged its publicity for one of its recent campaigns thus:
The cooperation of the daily press.
The exhibition of slides in motion picture theaters.
Sending letters to all lodges and orders asking for cooperation.
Asking the light companies to print fire warnings on the backs of their bills, and the railway companies to do the same on their transfers. The light companies also displayed similar information on their electric signs.
Use of the Boy Scouts to distribute dodgers to householders.
The cooperation of the clergy in preaching proper sermon.
Cooperation of the real estate exchange in cleaning up and keeping clean all buildings, of which the exchange has charge.
Inducing manufacturers to print suitable copy on pay envelopes.
Sending fire warnings in printed form to cigar stores.
Arrange that all caps for milk bottles during clean-up week be printed with a fire warning.
Secure the cooperation of all concerns selling fireproof materials such as cement, asbestos, fireproof paint and roofing, by asking them to advertise heavily during the week.
The Commissioner of Public Works consented to allow posters to be placed on the back of rubbish wagons, and the Commissioner of Public Safety offered the use of the big fire engines for the same purpose.