Tuesday, April 30, 1968
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3
Freberg proposes
By Robert Entriken Kansan Staff Reporter
Stan Freberg, "outraged consumer turned advertising man," came to KU Monday morning armed with a barrage of radio and television commercials—mostly his own—to illustrate what he considered good and bad audio-visual advertising.
The bulk of Freberg's talk to the William Allen White Centennial Seminar on "The Role of the Mass Media in a Free Society" was devoted to an analysis of advertising leading to "The Freberg Part Time Television Plan"—a proposal to limit television programming to three days a week to rid television of "audio-visual garbage."
"We'll have to see about Sunday," Freberg said, adding that viewers would have to help each other through the difficult withdrawal period."
Under Freberg's proposal regular programming would be allowed only Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tuesday there would be only a sign saying, "Read." Thursday the sign would say, "Talk." And on Saturday the sign would say, "Unsupervised Activity."
Although most of the audience in the nearly-full University Theatre may have believed Freberg's proposal to be merely another example of his satire, Freberg
said after his talk that he was absolutely serious about it. He did, however, acknowledge that no one was likely to take him up on his plan.
Freberg said he went into advertising and stays in it because of the "challenge of proving daily that advertising does not necessarily have to be dull, insipid, nauseating or irritating in order to communicate and thus sell the product."
Quoting the national advertising budget's rise from $3 billion in 1944 to $19 billion this year, Freberg said the cause of the rise was due to a "cauliflower receptivity" on the part of the consumer.
"According to Freberg's Law," he said, "consumers have long since reached the point of commercial saturation. Thus, a major soap company has to spend more and more to reach the poor consumer who is, in the interest of his sanity, slowly building an immunity to commercials, which forces the soap company to spend even more, and the consumer, accordingly, to build more of an immunity.
"It is easy to see why the annual costs keep soaring until they have become a $20 billion sledge hammer to drive a 39 cent thumb tack."
part time television plan'
Freberg showed films of three television commercials of the type
he said started the "great exodus from the living room."
One, a commercial for Head and Shoulders dandruff shampoo, depicted a father of the bride embarrassed about his dandruff problem. After shampoining with Head and Shoulders he goes to his daughter's wedding happily free of the annoying white flakes on his shoulders.
Freberg then dissected the irritations in the commercial, listing four reasons why it was uncommunicative:
- "It is about a tasteless subject: dandruff. Dancers do not like being trapped in their living room. Even dandruff sufferers."
"It is embarrassing enough to watch grown people discussing daddy's dandruff without watching him suffer the idignity of having to bring it up again at his daughter's wedding."
"The advertiser has shown no regard for the dignity of man," Freberg said.
- "The whole thing is just so preposterous and unbelievable that people simply reject the whole premise."
- "They (viewers) must in the end be outraged that a big grown company like Procter and Gamble should spend millions of dollars beaming such trivia at them in all seriousness, expecting them to swallow it."
Freberg then ran several of his
own radio and television commercials to illustrate his methods of selling a product using satire, honesty, lampoon of other commercials and kidding of the advertised product.
Freberg mentioned his commercials and magazine and newspaper ads for Pacific Air Lines (PAL) which acknowledged the fact that most air travelers are scared of flying. "Hey, you with the sweaty palms," reads the bannerline over one PAL ad.
His final film clip was a Jeno's Pizza Rolls commercial lampooning the Lark cigarette commercials. With the "William Tell Overture" blaring in the background, guests at a swank party, on cue, proudly show their pizza roll packs.
"Unable to communicate, then.
America's larger corporations have a counter device for reaching people," Freberg said. "It is called 'MONEY.' They use what I call the 'Invasion of Normandy' technique, with wave after wave of commercials striking at the viewer's head.
"I have had the pleasure of proving that it is not really good business," Freberg said. "Advertising can be created, produced and exposed to the people at far less money, since it doesn't require the Invasion of Normandy to make it sink in, and in the end produce something more important to the client: a lasting impression or image of a company which has resisted greed and shown some regard for the dignity of man."
Nasser predicts war between Arabs, Israel
CAIRO—(UPI)—President Gamal Abdel Nasser said Monday another war between the Arabs and Israel is inevitable.
ably whether we want it or not," Nasser told several thousand troops at an unnamed Egyptian armored division base.
"No matter what resolutions are adopted by the United Nations, the battle will come inevit-
The Egyptian leader repeated his refusal to negotiate with Israel.
REACHING OR THROWING?
Spring Fling participants are shown taking part in Saturday's egg throwing contest, near Potter Lake. Turn to page 4 to "see" some of the results of the contest and Spring Fling.
Stahl to return as visiting prof
Ernest L. Stahl, professor of German language and literature and fellow of the Queen's College at Oxford University, will return to KU as a visiting professor of the German department next fall.
In 1958, Stahl was a humanities lecturer here. He has held the Taylor chair at Oxford since 1959. Being a visiting professor isn't a new experience for Stahl, since he has been one at Yale, Princeton and Cornell.
An authority on the classical period of German literature, he has been awarded the Gold Medal of the Goethe Institute in recognition of his scholarly achievements.
His published works include books on Goethe, Schiller, Kleist and Holderlin and critical editions of works of these and other authors of the period. In addition, Dr. Stahl has published extensively on the aesthetic theories of the age.
Senator
MARK O. HATFIELD
Thursday, May 2
HOCH AUDITORIUM
3:30 p.m.
SUA Featured Speakers & All Student Council
dreaming about your future? then stop!
Here's a once in a lifetime opportunity for adventure and challenge.
A civilian career with the Army Recreation or Library Program in Europe or the Far East.
If you are single, a U.S. citizen and have a degree in
Recreation
Social Science
Arts and Crafts
Music
Dramatics or Library Science
Library Science
On Campus Interviews May 3
Special Services Section, IRCB Department of the Army Washington, D.C. 20315