4. First Comparative Advertising

The first project Hopkins did for Lord & Thomas (Mr. Lasker's company) is for canned-bean. In his investigation, Hopkins found that 94% of the housewives at that time baked their own pork and beans; and only 6% were amenable to any canned-bean argument.

Based on the information he found, Hopkins decided that he would start a campaign to compare home baking beans and canned-beans and argue against home baking. In his advertising messages, he told about the long hours required for baking beans at home. He also told why home baking could never make beans digestible. He pictured home-baked beans, with the crisped beans on top, the mushy beans below. In addition, he talked about the criteria that the company used to select beans, the soft water they used, the steam ovens in which the beans were baked for hours at 245 degrees. Finally, he offered a free sample for comparison. To his reward, the company earned a numerous consumers.

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