It Pays to Advertise (play)

Described as "A Farcical Fact in Three Acts", the play depicts the idle son of a rich manufacturer setting up a spurious business in competition with his father.

[3] The playwrights substantially rewrote the play for a new production in London by the actor-manager Tom Walls, at the Aldwych Theatre.

By contrast with later plays in the series, in which Walls played worldly and sometimes shady characters, with Ralph Lynn as his naïve associate, in It Pays to Advertise Walls's character is upright and conventional, and Lynn is the manipulative schemer.

[1] Mary Grayson, secretary to the soap magnate, Sir Henry Martin, is awaiting the arrival of his son, Rodney.

When he has gone it emerges that Sir Henry and Mary are in cahoots, seeking to drive the idle Rodney into earning a living for himself.

Sir Henry and a business rival have bet a large sum on which of their sons will outshine the other in commerce.

Mary assures Sir Henry that she is not in love with Rodney, and proposes to break off the engagement once he has got himself established in business.

As a publicity stunt for a show, Peale wants Rodney to stage a mock abduction of the leading lady in his private aeroplane.

Rodney maintains the pretence that his business is flourishing, and is backed by his father's main commercial rival.

Sir Henry is provoked into offering to buy out Rodney's company, but Mary inadvertently reveals the true state of the enterprise.

As they have no soap to sell, the conspirators start ringing round Sir Henry's factories to acquire some immediately.

Rodney's attempt to buy and re-sell soap from Sir Henry's factories has quickly come to his father's notice.

He is then greatly nonplussed to discover that Lewis's are keen to obtain the remaining 45,000 bars, as the advertising campaign has created a huge demand.

The Observer wondered how it was that Walls and his business partner Leslie Henson had the knack of spotting the few good farces among the many bad ones that they must have had to read.