information about what food is nutritious, or even safe. In 1981 General Foods ran a series of advertisements which gave people simple advice on the subject. A classic example of simplifying a complicated issue was the headline on a Chesapeake and Ohio advertisement: ‘A Hog Can Cross the Country Without Changing Trains – But YOU Can’t!’ But watch out. Simplistic distortion can insult people’s intelligence and do you more harm than good. This corporate campaign was created to please the governments of countries in which Esso did business. Click here for hi-res image and text. Present your case in terms of the reader’s self-interest. For some years Mobil has been trying to influence public opinion by running exceptionally trenchant advertisements. The head of Mobil says that they have produced positive results, but I have reason to think that they work better with the well-educated minority than with the public at large. The advertisements make little or no appeal to the ordinary citizen’s self- interest.