It will be noticed that in the preceding discussions the attempts to lessen the distance between the producer and the consumer have been made by neither producers nor consumers as such, but by third parties. We may now turn our attention to another aspect in which the producer tries to bring his product directly to the consumer. The most easily observed example of this is the sale of gasoline by the Standard Oil Company. Everywhere one sees the stations of this concern serving the automobile public, though it must be kept in mind that the same product may be obtained from local dealers. Other producers, too, sell only direct to consumers, depending on personal letters, catalogs, and national advertising to create a demand for their goods.