{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "id": "wanamaker-half-my-advertising-is-wasted",
  "slug": "wanamaker-half-my-advertising-is-wasted",
  "url": "https://groundedkit.com/claims/wanamaker-half-my-advertising-is-wasted/",
  "api_url": "https://groundedkit.com/api/claims/wanamaker-half-my-advertising-is-wasted.json",
  "claim": "John Wanamaker said: \"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half\"",
  "commonly_cited_as": "\"Half my advertising is wasted, I just don't know which half\" — John Wanamaker",
  "verdict": "unsourced",
  "verdict_definition": "No primary data found; the trail ends in a roundup, a disowned quote or a circular citation.",
  "confidence": "medium",
  "rating": {
    "value": 1,
    "best": 5,
    "worst": 1
  },
  "origin": {
    "publisher": "Quote Investigator",
    "title": "One-Half the Money I Spend for Advertising Is Wasted (Apr. 11, 2022; updated Mar. 17, 2025)",
    "year": "1919 (earliest attribution)"
  },
  "quote": "QI has been unable to find a direct citation to a written or spoken instance from Wannamaker; hence, this ascription remains uncertain. Nevertheless, Wannamaker is currently the leading candidate.",
  "method": "Quotation research: the earliest full attribution is a 1919 speech by Rev. Roy L. Smith; partial versions appear from 1890.",
  "drift": [
    "Attribution: secondhand (1919); also credited to Lord Leverhulme, Wrigley and others"
  ],
  "interest": "Quote Investigator is an independent quotation-research site run by Garson O'Toole; no commercial interest in the quote.",
  "safe_rephrasing": "The line is usually credited to John Wanamaker, but the earliest attribution is secondhand (a 1919 speech) and no direct record from him has been found; say 'often attributed to Wanamaker'.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Quote Investigator — One-Half the Money I Spend for Advertising Is Wasted",
      "url": "https://quoteinvestigator.com/2022/04/11/advertising/",
      "primary": true
    }
  ],
  "kind": "stat_check",
  "as_of": "Research updated Mar. 17, 2025",
  "last_checked": "2026-10-16",
  "stale": false,
  "date_reviewed": "2026-10-16",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}