SAY IT WITH FLOWERS

Today marks the opening of American Education Week, a period to be devoted to the cause of making America education minded. Its sponsors, the American Legion and the American Education Association will carry on the campaign with all the heavy artillery at its command. Radio, movies, press and public discussion will all be pressed into the service of this great and vital cause.

Such wholesale propaganda ought to be productive of results, although the methods have been subject to abuse by commercial interests. National Prune Week, Drink More Sauerkraut Juice Week, Mothers Day, Dads Day and other similar phenomena can all be traced to high pressure advertising. The hypocritical effusions of florists, telegraph companies, and haberdashers on such occasions are obvious enough in their intent to all but the softer minded and more naive devotees of Edgar Guest and other purveyors of mental pap. In a similar manner one might justifiably suspect that the backers of American Education are not altogether altruistic. A little publicity is always a profitable thing especially when connected with such a worthy cause. Intensive propaganda of this type may fill the air with sound and fury for a short time, but the lasting effects are decidedly limited.

With modern methods of high power salesmanship the consumer is overwhelmed by attempts to sell him objects and ideas. He may be docile enough to be air minded and education conscious and remember to drink sauerkraut juice for breakfast, but the sheep like quality of the average man has certain limits. The logical remedy for this situation is for all timid souls to band themselves together for the propagation of a Build Up Your Sales Resistance Week.