The Man Nobody Knows
The Man Nobody Knows
7/17/01
The author of this book Bruce Barton was a partner in a successful advertising firm during the 1920's. This was a time when the industry of advertising was under going some major changes. These changes had a lot to do with a number of factors the first of which being the post war prosperity this meant people had more money than they ever had before. Another one of these factors had to do with the high number of teens who were now attending high school, this proved to be important because it created a whole other market which hadn't existed before. One more factor was the advances made in transportation and communication, these advances allowed goods, people, and information to travel long distances relatively quickly intern allowing companies to grow large enough to spread their services nationally. Still another important factor was the invention of financing, this allowed people to pay for durable objects (large objects that would last a couple of years) with affordable installments or payments. But the biggest changes were the actual advertising practices themselves, many of which were pioneered by Barton and his associates, and didn't become norms in advertising until after the release of Bartons book "The Man Nobody Knows" in 1924. This book served not only as a manual on how to advertise more affectively but also as an example of good advertising itself. Barton begins his book by explaining why he wrote it. He does this in the form of a parable or story. The story he tells is of a young boy who is forced to sit through Sunday after Sunday of being told what to think and feel about God. Barton goes on to describe how the teacher had repeatedly stressed the need for him to love God and Jesus, and how the boy had grown to be fear God. He also told us how the boy pictured Jesus as the "Lamb of God", which reminded him of Mary had a little lamb. This association between Jesus and a children's song had made the boy
7/17/01
The author of this book Bruce Barton was a partner in a successful advertising firm during the 1920's. This was a time when the industry of advertising was under going some major changes. These changes had a lot to do with a number of factors the first of which being the post war prosperity this meant people had more money than they ever had before. Another one of these factors had to do with the high number of teens who were now attending high school, this proved to be important because it created a whole other market which hadn't existed before. One more factor was the advances made in transportation and communication, these advances allowed goods, people, and information to travel long distances relatively quickly intern allowing companies to grow large enough to spread their services nationally. Still another important factor was the invention of financing, this allowed people to pay for durable objects (large objects that would last a couple of years) with affordable installments or payments. But the biggest changes were the actual advertising practices themselves, many of which were pioneered by Barton and his associates, and didn't become norms in advertising until after the release of Bartons book "The Man Nobody Knows" in 1924. This book served not only as a manual on how to advertise more affectively but also as an example of good advertising itself. Barton begins his book by explaining why he wrote it. He does this in the form of a parable or story. The story he tells is of a young boy who is forced to sit through Sunday after Sunday of being told what to think and feel about God. Barton goes on to describe how the teacher had repeatedly stressed the need for him to love God and Jesus, and how the boy had grown to be fear God. He also told us how the boy pictured Jesus as the "Lamb of God", which reminded him of Mary had a little lamb. This association between Jesus and a children's song had made the boy