Calkins' Artistic and Professional Principles

Calkins expected the advertising industry to uphold the highest of artistic and professional principles. According to Calkins, it is unacceptable for a member of a profession to act in a manner that would denigrate the entire profession if practiced by all members. Calkins likens the advertising man to a doctor. Like the man of medicine who must not compete with his colleagues for patients in an underhanded manner, the agent who steals advertising business from the competition sullies the names and trivializes the capabilities of all agents engaged in advertising. Just as the patient's faith in the doctor determines the practice of medicine, so does the manufacturer's faith in the agent impact the practice of advertising. Thus, the entire field suffers when professionals do not support one another. To this end, Calkins is opposed to unsolicited speculation on the part of agents attempting to obtain new business from advertisers who have already hired an agent. In his view, even if the speculative agent did better the account, he is weakening the confidence in the relationship between advertiser and agent, and as a consequence, weakening advertising as a whole.

Calkins is vehemently opposed to preparing plans at the specific request of the advertiser as well. He finds the advertiser's request that the agent work for free in order to prove the value of his work inherently troublesome; "it is human nature not to set a very high value on anything you have once gotten for nothing." Thus, in the interest of upholding high professional ethics and collective faith in advertising, Calkins demands that agencies work together to ensure advertisers select agencies rather than plans. Just as the patient can choose any doctor, the advertiser is free to select any agent. However, it is the agent's business to develop the plan. An agency chosen on ability, as opposed to a plan that happens to attract attention, will lend credibility and respectability to the entire advertising profession. Further, he feels if agencies were guaranteed a continuing relationship with current advertisers, most would be happy to grow the accounts they already hold, rather than have to continually deal with soliciting new business (Calkins, 1929b).

Calkins felt that true professionalism in advertising was derived through education. Further, he believed that the benefits advertising bestowed upon society were key to professionalism in the industry. In Calkins' time, there existed a dichotomy of thought: those who supported Calkins' view, and those who advanced a commercial stance. These individuals considered themselves the "real pros" in advertising, and objected to the ivory tower definition of professionalism. They touted their practical expertise and resultant ability to increase sales, the sole purpose of advertising. Finally, these "real pros" were reticent about art and public service, areas outside the realm of advertising that only served to divert attention from the true objective, added sales (Marchand, 1985).

On the contrary, Calkins considered advertising an institution that uplifted culture. When products were branded with the mark of the manufacturer, pride accompanied the claim to ownership. Furthermore, product quality was improved as the manufacturer advertised, since he entered into an implicit agreement with the public to fulfill all product promises reflected in his advertisements. Calkins credits advertising with providing consumers the ability to return goods for a refund (Calkins, 1922). He believes advertising "...is a means to an end, the end a worthy and desirable one" (Calkins, 1928). Calkins admits that advertising does, on occasion, supply a demand. However, advertising also creates a demand for beneficial items that people would not have previously considered (Calkins, 1928). Furthermore, because advertising fosters the existence of markets, manufacturers are willing to accept the risk of producing goods in mass quantities. As a consequence, the consumer benefits since the higher the quantity of goods produced, the lower the cost of each unit. In addition, the cost of selling is reduced, thus decreasing the advertising costs (Calkins, 1928). Also, the brand recognition that results from advertising makes well-known products sell more quickly, thereby reducing the overhead to the manufacturer and dealer, and ultimately the cost to the consumer (Calkins, 1929a). Finally, in the article "Now is the Time to Advertise," Calkins comments that continuous advertising is crucial to the economic health of our society. It is not advisable for businesses to reduce money allocated to advertising when they sense hard times are approaching. Calkins asserts that the money each of us spends returns to us, and that business can prosper only when the exchange of goods and money circulates freely. Individuals cannot operate in a vacuum; if one produces a good, another individual must exist to purchase it, or neither party benefits. In economic downturns due to psychological reasons, advertising is powerful medicine for maintaining normal buying behaviors (Calkins, 1930).

In addition to these business philosophies and those regarding professionalism in the industry, Calkins also provides suggestions to those considering a career in advertising. However, he cautions that there is no well-defined approach to prepare for work in the field (Calkins, 1922). Despite this fact, Calkins advocates a good education. Not only does one benefit from acquiring information, but one also learns how to study, a skill critical to the advertising man who continually learns through research. For as much as college reinforces one's ability to study and improves one's personal life, it is no substitute for the first-hand experience one obtains working in the industry. In fact, Calkins comments that advertising agencies typically prefer employees to learn the business from the inside. He also advances the value of good writing, avid reading, and basic knowledge of drawing (Calkins, 1922).

A final area of interest to Calkins relates to art and beauty in advertising. Ironically, Calkins comments that the desire for beauty in products arose out of a need to replace the very beauty the machinery of our modern industrial society displaced in the name of efficiency (Calkins, 1928). The industrialized era produced wealth that, in turn, fostered the ability to travel and created a sense of sophistication that made one frown upon the very products that afforded him these opportunities in the first place. In response to this heightened sensitivity to beauty, manufacturers focused on making product packaging more attractive. In addition, the products themselves were altered to make them worthy of the new, artistic displays, yet another benefit of advertising (Calkins, 1928). Calkins was inspired by his first exposure to the world of art at the Pratt Institute School of Design exhibition. He was so moved by the experience, he enrolled in a night class in applied design. Calkins saw in art exactly what would make advertising eye-catching: vibrant color, form and design (Calkins, 1924).

It is not surprising that Calkins' agency contained its own art department. Artists such as Walter Whitehead, Myron Perley, Jack Sheridan and René Clarke worked in-house or provided outside services to Calkins & Holden. According to Calkins, these pioneers fostered the acceptance of commercial art as "real art," and set the standard for many well-trained men in the field (Calkins, 1946). The following picture is taken from Marchand (1985) and represents the work of the artist and designer mentioned previously, René Clarke, employed by Calkins & Holden. The Martex towels are elegantly displayed in a bathroom containing sea-blue walls and a faucet with green fish. Marchand notes the Printers' Ink comment that the advertisement "suggests the luxury of semi-tropic bathing":

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