THE COMMONS DEBATE on advertising, inconse- quential and scrappy though
it was, did help to bring out how impossible it is to lay down hard- and-fast rules or general standards for advertisers to follow. Agreed that there should not be indis- criminate advertising of tranquillisers—but how, then, to deal with alcohol, the daddy of them all? Agreed that the amount spent on plugging rival brands of detergent is ludicrously dispropor- tionate to the differences between them—but if there were no such plugs, it could only mean that the rival firms had ceased to compete; and within a very short time the housewife would be paying far more than she does at the moment. Agreed that the claims made for certain tooth- pastes—Mr. Francis Noel-Baker instanced Gleem and Colgate's—are absurd; but how long, I wonder, will Mr. Noel-Baker keep his good reso- lution to clean his teeth by what he calls 'the most effective and cheapest way,' with ordinary kitchen salt? He will soon, I suspect, be hanker- ing after' some more expensive, possibly less effectiVe, but much more palatable proprietary brand. By making the cleaning of teeth a rela- tively enjoyable business the manufacturers have, I suppose, done a considerable service to the community; and perhaps we should not begrudge them a few silly statements in their advertising.
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