“True words are not beautiful…

…Beautiful words are not true.”

These words come from a small classic of Chinese philosophy called the Lao Tzu or Tao-te ching consisting of about 5,250 meaningful words written in verse. The book is believed to date from the sixth century BC. More commentaries have been written on it than on any other Chinese classic. It explains the Taoist philosophy and represents a kind of manual of moral truth and virtue.

In the context of modern advertising, the two lines quoted above seem highly relevant. Copywriters in the advertising profession can write beautifully about a product, but how much of it is true? We can create a smokescreen to lull the consumer into a certain mood and create a certain mystique, but where is the substance?

I see so much of this illusion in the field of environmental advertising where car manufacturers exert themselves to tell us how they have reduced emissions. Meanwhile, they ignore the fact that their cars still remain a major source of pollution. It is the combustion engine running on diesel or petrol that is the fundamental problem and, until that technology changes, cars will never be ‘green’.

On the other hand, there have been some great car ads such as the classic for the Volksvagen Beetle in America in 1969 with the headline: “It’s ugly but it gets you there” and the visual of the Apollo 8 spacecraft on the moon.

It was created by an American agency called Doyle Dane Bernbach that became renowned for producing advertising that was bluntly honest. They also came up with the classic slogan for Avis who was trailing behind Hertz in car rentals: “We’re second. We try harder.”

I have seen headlines and slogans like this that cut to the heart of the matter. They may not make beautiful reading but they get straight to the point and are believable. I much prefer the ugly truth and hard facts rather than a beautifully crafted piece of soft sell.

By Peter Goddard