- Empire Marketing Board
The Empire Marketing Board was formed in May 1926 by the Colonial Secretary
Leo Amery to promote inter-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'.Amery was its first Chairman, Sir
Stephen George Tallents was its Secretary,Edward Mayow Hastings Lloyd was Assistant Secretary, Walter Elliot was its Chairman of the Research Committee.The EMB had three principal aims: to support
scientific research , promotion ofeconomic analysis, and publicity for Empire trade. Scientific research took up a large proportion of the EMB's work and budget. It also assisted 126agricultural andmedical research projects and issued many Intelligence Notes,pamphlets and surveys. The EMB made links with buyers and produced analyses ofmarkets to help producers.The EMB organised
poster campaigns, exhibitions, 'Empire Shopping Weeks', Empire shops, lectures,radio talks, schools tour, its ownlibrary , advertisements in the national and local press and of shop window displays. Most famous was the EMBfilm unit led byJohn Grierson , often considered the father of moderndocumentary film , which produced around 100 films with such names as 'Solid Sunshine' (which promotedNew Zealand butter ), 'Song of Ceylon', 'Wheatfields of the Empire', 'Industrial Britain' and 'One Family'.Colonial governments were reluctant to join the EMB, however. The EMB was ended September 1933 as a result of government cuts and the introduction of
Imperial Preference . The film unit was moved to GPO, and duringWorld War II was reorganized into theCrown Film Unit .References
*'Buy and Build: The Advertising Posters of the Empire Marketing Board', Stephen Constantine, PRO, London.
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