“It pays to advertise” (advertising adage)
“It pays to advertise” is a saying that appeared in many 19th century newspapers, often ending “in/with the (newspaper name).” The slogan was developed because many businesses at the time thought that advertising was a waste of money. “It pays to advertise” has been cited in print since at least 1861.
The play It Pays to Advertise (1914), by Roi Cooper Megrue and Walter Hackett, was made into a movie in 1919 and again in 1931, further popularizing the saying.
Wiktionary: it pays to advertise
Proverb
it pays to advertise
1.Good qualities do not get rewarded automatically.
2 July 1861, New-York Daily Reformer (Watertown, NY), “Just the Time,” pg. 2, col. 3:
When business is dull and things move slowly, it is just the time to advertise. A good many merchants and dealers feel poor about these days, and think they cannot afford the expense, and yet a very little reflection should satisfy them that they cannot in these times afford to quit advertising.
It pays to advertise any time—so those say who have done the most of it, and they ought to know—but the percentage is smaller when trade is brisk and money plenty, then when times are dull and there is little doing.
12 December 1861, Daily Commercial Register (Sandusky, OH), pg. 3, col. 1 ad:
Will it Pay to Advertise?
FIRE INSURANCE COS. ADVERTISE.
It Pays to Advertise.
LIFE INSURANCE COS. ADVERTISE.
It Pays to Advertise.
RAIL-ROAD COMPANIES ADVERTISE.
It Pays to Advertise.
THOSE WHO ADVERTISE MOST KNOW.
It Will Pay to Advertise.
It Will Pay to Advertise.
20 January 1964, Coshocton (OH) Democrat, pg. 1, col. 2:
Bring on your advertisements, job work, &c. The Democrat has the largest circulation in the county. It pays to advertise with us.
28 November 1866, New-York Daily Reformer (Watertown, NY), pg. 2, col. 4:
IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE.—That it pays to advertise, is a fact pretty well established. George M. West, editor of the Brandon (Wis.) Times, gives his opinion in this wise:
“Does it pay to advertise? Our experience teaches us that it does. A week ago we advertised for a boy to learn the printers’ trade. Imagine our surprise on Monday morning, on finding at our domicile an applicant, weighing just eight pounds and a half! We would not guarantee to all, such returns by patronizing the printer, but this is one instance where it was a success.”
OCLC WorldCat record
It pays to advertise; a farcical fact in three acts.
Author: Roi Cooper and Hackett Walter Megrue
Publisher: French, ©1914.
Edition/Format: Book : English
OCLC WorldCat record
It pays to advertise
Author: Samuel Field; Walter Hackett; Roi Cooper Megrue
Publisher: New York, Duffield, 1915.
Series: (Internet Archive - Canadian Universities).
Edition/Format: eBook : Document : Fiction : English
The Internet Movie Database
It Pays to Advertise (1919)
Comedy - 23 November 1919 (USA)
Director: Donald Crisp
Writers: Roi Cooper Megrue (play), Walter C. Hackett (play), and Elmer Harris (scenario)
Stars:Bryant Washburn, Lois Wilson and Frank Currier
The Internet Movie Database
Plot Summary for
It Pays to Advertise (1931)
To prove his thesis that any product—even one that doesn’t exist—can be merchandized if it is advertised properly, a young man gets together with his father’s savvy secretary to market a non-existent laundry soap. Complications ensue when his “product” turns out to be more successful than even he imagined—and now he has to deliver. Written by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
OCLC WorldCat record
It pays to advertise : a titillating collection of famous slogans with scintillating illustrations
Author: John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History.; Silver Studios.
Publisher: New York : Waldorf Publishers, ©1955.
Edition/Format: Book : English