Unethical Solicitation of Advertising Is
Condemned; NCRAC Demands End of Scheme

Responding to the protests of the American Association
-
of English-Jewish Newspapers against the unethical practices
of some periodicals which have been clipping advertisements
from local publications and soliciting for them through direct
billings, the National Community Relations Advisory Council
has held a number of conferences with responsible parties
and has issued a statement call- %

ing for an end to the unsavory
practice. The NCRAC statement,
signed by Isaiah Minkoff, exe-
cutive direct9r, reads:
Early in August, the NCRAC
was requested by 'the American
Association of English - Jewish
newspapers to take cognizance
of a situation involving alleged
unethical practices by four na-
tional Jewish publications in
soliciting advertisements by
mail for their special Rosh Has-
honah editions. Since then, our
attention has been called to a
fifth national publication which
has also engaged in the same
practice.
On August 24th a committee
of the NCRAC, comprised of
representatives from the Amer-
ican Jewish Committee, Amen-
,, can Jewish Congress, Anti-De-
' faillation League of Bnai Brith,
Jewish Labor Committee, Jewish
War Veterans, Union of Ameri-
can Hebrew of the NCRAC, met
with a representative of the
American Association of Eng-
lish-Jewish Newspapers. By the
date of the meeting, additional
inquiries and complaints had
been received by the NCRAC from
a number of communities, in
some of which advertisers, both
Jewish and non-Jewish, h a d
complained to the local Better
Business Bureau. The practice
complained of consists of solicit-
ing advertising by mail in such
a manner as to give prospective
advertisers the erroneous im-
preSsion that they were being
asked to renew an old ad rather
than being solicited for the first
time. Specifically, this was done
by clipping advertisements
which had appeared . in various
publications including the Eng-
lish-Jewish p r e s s; attaching
these advertisements to a bill of
the soliciting publication; and
sending the bill with the sug-
gestion that the bill was sent
"to save time and administra-
tive expense of separate bill-
ing." Neither the bill nor the
covering letter of solicitation
made any reference to the fact
that the attached ad was taken
from another publication.
It was the unanimous view of
the NCRAC Committee that this
method of solicitation Was clear-
ly unethical. Therefore, and in
order to prevent a public scan-
dal which was imminent if this
practice should continue, it was
agreed that this Matter should
be discussed by the NCRAC with
the offending publications.
In view of the fact that this
4 ".11.-situation had received publicity
in the general as well as the
Anglo-Jewish press, a public
statement was released by the
NCRAC on Aug. 25 as follows:

"Irk the interests of the total Jewish
community,. the National Community Re-
lations Advisory Council has taken cog-
nizance of the issue of the alleged un-

36—THE JEWISH NEWS

Friday, December 8, 1950

"....11

ethical practice by Jewish publications in
the securing of advertisements.
"On Wednesday, Aug. 24, a committee
of the NCRAC met with representatives
of the American Association of English-
Jewish Newspapers and at an early date
will similarly confer with officials of
publications concerned with this problem."

Subsequently, NCRAC repre-
sentatives conferred with the of-
fending publications. The NCR-
AC is happy to state that it was
received by these publications
in a spirit of friendly coopera-
tion. All acknowledged the un-
ethical nature of the practice
into which they had been mis-
led and, in keeping with their
reputations as responsible Jew-

ish publications under equally
re s ponsible individual and or-
ganizational sponsorship, v o 1 -
untarily offered to discontinue
the practice and gave assurances
that thei offense would never
again be repeated.
The NCRAC is satisfied that
all of these highly reputable
publications were the victims of
one or two advertiging men who,
either in ignorance or in dis-
regard of the unethical charac-
ter of the device, prevailed upon
the publications to adopt this
method of soliciting advertising
by mail. The NCRAC is confi-
dent that the publications will
keep their promises not to en-
gage in this practice in the
future.
T h e NCRAC is circulating
copies of this letter to all na-
tional Yiddish, Hebrew a n d
English- Jewish publications

251 W. Lamed
WOodward 5-2424

Iron &

Steel Scrap

3730 Central
VI. 2-6565-6-7

SUPPLY CO.

We do all types of Keller work

14500 Schaefer

640 E. Congress -

Res: VE. 6-1881
Office: VE. 8-6050

WO. 2-9710

Holiday Greetings

John R. Moore

from

11301 12th at Collingwood

Greens

Music Systems,
Inc.

13916 Appoline

10217 Linwood

WE. 3-1739

TU. 3-3900

Greens Co., Inc.

Wholesale Decorative

•■•■■■•■••■•■■•••■■•••■■■■ ••••• ■ YVIV,al.

Holiday Best Wishes

Compliments of

PELTON

Robert Hamilton

Distributing Co.

Watchmaker and Jeweler

"The Store of

Wholesale Heating

Supplies

RYAN
AUTO PARTS

Morgan Auto

7325-27 Tireman

Paint Co.

Auto Paints Cr
Paint Shop Equipment

4622 W. Fort

300-314 E. Milwaukee

TA. 5-4540

TR. 2-2771

Holiday Greetings

and

Cigarette Vending Machines
, Bars - Hotels - Restaurants
Industrial Locations

2373 - 17th
TAshmoo 5-3180

Holiday Greetings

Miller Heating

Howes
Shoemaker Co.

TO. 7-9396

Hanukah Best Wishes

Compliments

Holiday Greetings

POWELL'S
Standard Service

Tires * Batteries * Accessories
Courteous and Efficient Service

New University

Friendly Service"

4130 W. McNichols

WE. 3-5110

Opp. U. of D.

Air Conditioning Co.

Barbecue Chicken
Cr Spare Ribs

2256 Caniff

15948 Livernois

TO. 8-7810

UN. 2-9755

Holiday Best Wishes

PARQUET
FLOOR CO.

from

Carpets * Linoleum * Rubber
Tile Floor Coverings

House of Flowers

and Asphalt Tile

Jack Hanrahan, Prop.

8170 Liyernois
TYler 7-9514

13814 W. McNichols

Best Wishes From

Holiday Greetings

UN. 2-4626

LEONARD'S

LAVANWAY

GARAGE

Best Wishes on
the Holiday

Holiday Best Wishes

Mid-West

Kirk's
Carburetor Co.

Venetian Blind

UN. 4-1787

Greetings on Hanukah

Restaurant

SIGN CO.

Tuneup - Brake Service

Motor Rebuilding - Auto Parts

9100 Dearborn

13970 Stansbury

VI. 2-2202

VE. 5-6380

Service on all makes and types

Mfg. Co.

5650 Livernois

7715 Tireman

TY. 5-7291

WE. 3-0999

Best Wishes for the Holiday

From

DETROIT INSURANCE AGENCY

Season's Greetings

FISHER BUILDING

TR. 2-3300

Outdoor Advertising, Inc.

7-116 General Motors Building

Best Wishes to the Jewish Community

TRinity 5-3773

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Metal
Reclaiming Co.

N & B Kellering
Company

MID-WEST

Holiday Best Wishes

THE NEW ERA POTATO CHIPS

...11

Best Wishes
from

Hanukah Best Wishes

Compliments

Holiday Greetings

Engraved Wedding
Announcements
Invitations
-
Corporate
Books - Seals - Certificates

Holiday Best Wishes

Standard Oil Products

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NELSON
ENGRAVERS

calling their attention to this impugn their good reputations
situation so that, having been and work hard on the Jewish
alerted, they will guard against community in America.
being duped into engaging in
this practice, which can only
Our want ads get results.

First by Merit

Best Wishes on the Hanukah Season

REILLY PLATING CO.

Easily Digested — Less Fattening

Distributors of Bachman Butter Thin Pretzels

Production Cr Job Plating

Cadmium - Zinc

17725 Dora Melvindale

WArwick 8-6800

NICOLAY-DANCEY, INC.

WAlnut 1-2700

5801 Grandy Avenue