The Anatomy of Humbug by Paul Feldwick – Admap “Speed Read” By Chris Walmsley
Cubo’s Co-founder and Head of Planning gives his views on Paul Feldwick’s journey through the history of advertising, The Anatomy of Humbug.
This article was published in the January issue of Admap ©Warc.
Intro/description/purpose
The Anatomy of Humbug by Paul Feldwick is an inspiring and provocative journey through the history of advertising. A fascinating array of big characters from the last 150 years are presented in a thoroughly entertaining way as the author expertly guides us through the significant ideas that have shaped modern day advertising. For an industry that is notoriously bad at learning lessons from its own history this book brings some welcome enlightenment as well as practical guidance on how to take the best from what has gone before and apply it today.
Author credentials
Paul Feldwick worked in advertising agencies for over thirty years. He became Head of Planning at one of London’s most celebrated agencies, Boase Massimi Pollit, in 1988 and later became worldwide brand planning director at DDB in 2002. Since leaving the agency he has used his considerable experience and talent to advise on strategy, brands and organisational change. The forward is provided by the former Chairman of J Walter Thompson, Jeremy Bullmore.
Summary of the books central ideas and arguments
The author shows us six sides of the advertising “Rubik’s cube”- salesmanship, seduction, salience, social connection, spin and showbiz. He doesn’t present these different philosophies as an exhaustive list or an all-encompassing panacea but as an interconnected puzzle that has been created by many of histories big advertising thinkers, going as far back as the 1900’s with the originator of “humbug” and the “greatest show on earth” PT Barnum.
Each philosophy comes with a cast of contributors including Claude Hopkins (1866 - 1932)- author of the bestselling advertising book of all time, selling over 8 million copies, the inventor of the USP Rosser Reeves (1910 - 84), the great creator of seduction Bill Bernbach (1911 – 84) the originator of spin Edward Bernays (1891 – 1995) plus of course the godfather of modern planning Stephen King (1936 – 2006).
This book tells the story behind these characters and their ideas and in the process describes how people think – or assume – that the advertising puzzle works. It clearly and honestly illustrates the schizophrenia that exists within modern advertising between rational persuasion and subconscious seduction and how it came about. It builds on this central theme by introducing four other ways of thinking about advertising that completes the Feldwick puzzle. Helpfully he doesn’t leave the reader to work out everything by themselves, instead he offers up some very sage and real world advice on how to free oneself from seeing any single theory, model or philosophy as the absolute truth. The author argues that more inspiring work will follow from gaining a deeper understanding of the best thinking from the last 150 years including some of the big thought leaders of today, such as Robert Heath and Byron Sharpe, and being clear and open minded about what to apply, where and why.
Description of the most interesting case studies/examples used to illustrate the arguments
One of the most telling quotes in the book doesn’t come from an advertising guru but the economist John Maynard Keynes who said back in 1936: “So-called practical men, who have never knowingly been exposed to an intellectual influence in their lives, are invariably the slaves of some defunct economist.”
The author argues that what Keynes said about economics is equally true about advertising. To build on this thought he asks the reader to consider some of the words (and the ideas behind them) that we all use as self-evident truths when planning and creating advertising today. Words such as impact, recall, proposition, attention, reason why, message and so forth. His point being that if we just accept this language uncritically as “common sense” then we are as Keynes said, slaves to it. He makes a compelling argument for us all to get a far better understanding of where these words came from and the world view that shaped them. Only then will we be properly equipped to use this handed down language effectively or alternatively find new words to help us plan and create better advertising.
A good example of this is the word “attention”. The author tells us about the inventor of AIDA back in the last 19th century (the fantastically named E. St. Elmo Lewis) and the subsequent famous “salesmanship” advocates including the aforementioned Claude Hopkins and Daniel Starch the inventor of the Starch Rating – the ubiquitous research method in 50’s and 60’s. The desire for attention at all costs was, in later decades, ridiculed by people such as the USP creator Rosser Reeves who commented that “you can always get attention by passing wind at a party” and David Ogilvy who argued you could always put a “gorilla in a jock strap” to get high attention. Funny he didn’t mention the drum kit.
The authors points out that all these big advertising thinkers have a different take on the value and role of attention – largely because they were from different eras and were also often looking for advertising to achieve different things. However gaining “attention” is still often the automatic start point when briefing and evaluating advertising today – the authors point being that if we don’t really understand where this came from and why then we are in danger of just blindly following a theory that may or may not be what the brand needs to be a more successful communicator.
A listing of takeaway points, key learning’s
Like all well written books with well researched historical content Anatomy of Humbug makes the reader feel an empathy for both the people who have and do create advertising plus all of us who consumes it on daily basis. Central to this idea is the sensitive contract that exists between the advertiser and the consumer. Never forget we are communicating with fellow human beings with lives, needs and feelings and they are not just bits of data who need to be sold to.
Contrary to what many modern commentators say the “year zero narrative” doesn’t hold water. He argues that this idea that the world has changed and the old rules don’t apply is a dangerous myth. The fundamental needs of people have not changed since the first ever ad was created and we ignore that at our peril. Feldwick helps us all to understand how advertising works including the art of seduction in a world where indifference to what everybody in advertising produces on a daily basis is growing.
Finally on a personal note Paul Feldwick reminded this reader why he still finds advertising so fascinating and why he chose it as his career some 30 years ago.
Chris Walmsley
