Judge — March 2, 1918 — page 2: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is **not a satirical cartoon** but rather a **straightforward cigarette advertisement** for Lucky Strike brand cigarettes, published in *Judge* magazine (likely 1917-1918, based on internal dating). The ad celebrates Lucky Strike's massive sales success—15 million cigarettes daily by late 1917, just months after launch in January 1917. The key marketing claim is that cigarettes are "toasted," differentiating them from competitors. The imagery shows the product and includes a hand offering a toasted element, reinforcing the "It's toasted" slogan. The American Tobacco Company guarantees the product. By modern standards, this represents pre-regulation tobacco advertising that made health/quality claims without scientific basis. The rapid growth cited reflects early 20th-century cigarette marketing's effectiveness before health warnings existed.