BACK in December, 1882 this advertisement for Ivory Soap appeared in many newspapers throughout the land. Nobody remembers the exact schedule or the writer's name, but it was unquestionably among the first of the famous 99 44/100 percent pure series. Copywriters please note the substantial reason-why "sell" all the way through this compact "reader" copy. Pretty solid stuff. Few ads in that 1nn --gone day were any better. Few soaps either; and that was a combination hard to beat. In my book, it rates as among the great ads of all time because it is truly representative of an imaginative and resourceful advertising policy that has led Procter & Gamble from small beginnings to a very distinguished place in the sun. They had a good idea, and they stuck to it, varying only its interpretation as the years went by.
