Mobil seeks to influence public opinion in advertisements which are remarkable for their no-holds-barred copy. They appeal to the educated minority. Disarm with candor. ARMCO had a reputation as the worst polluter in Houston. They tackled the problem with advertising that told how they had changed their ways. It produced a measurable improvement in their reputation. Give both sides of the issue. In confronting the anti-highway and anti-strip- mining pressure groups, Caterpillar Tractor gave both sides of the issue. Know who your target is. You can reach Congressmen and others in the Federal Government with a campaign that need not cost more than $800,000 a year, but it Won’t do you much good. Unless legislators know that you are talking to their constituents, they turn a deaf ear. As Ralph Nader is reported to have said, ‘If you are weak on the streets, you are weak.’ When Congress was considering a windfall profits tax on oil companies, several of them ran argumentative advertisements directed to Congressmen. But social and political pressures were so great, and demagoguery so rampant, that the bill was enacted. The campaign might
Ogilvy on Advertising Page 182 Page 184