Judge, 1931-02-14 · page 12 of 36
Judge — February 14, 1931 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Give Away" - Judge Magazine Satire This page satirizes pharmaceutical industry marketing practices through fictional corporate memos. The cartoon depicts a sailor claiming "And me with a wife in every port!" — likely referencing the common promotional giveaway strategy of offering free items with purchases. The satire centers on Dandy Handy Candy Bars company scheming to boost sales by having retail druggists distribute free candy with prescription purchases. The memos reveal cynical corporate logic: employees suggest leveraging sick people's vulnerability, mimicking how tobacco companies used free pipes to drive sales. One memo explicitly notes that prescriptions have "no standard price" — implying profit manipulation. The joke is that candy companies are essentially bribing pharmacies to push more prescriptions, turning drugstores into candy distributors while exploiting patients. This critiques how commercialism corrupts healthcare and how businesses target vulnerable populations (the sick) to create repeat customers. The casual tone of the memos makes the scheme's amorality darkly comedic.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“And me with a wife in every port!” THE GIVE AWAY By Carroll Carroll DANDY HANDY CANDY BARS, Inc. Interoffice Memo A. Tishweiler, Pres te Retail Druggists’ Syndicate will take a carload of 1 andy Candy Bars at a price, if our advertis- ing department can think up a to move them, The idea is that we will give them Dandy Handy Candy Bars at cost, and charge the profit to advertising, so the Retail ists’ Syndicate feature them at a pric anyone else sells them, or maybe give them While I trust the advertising depart emergency of this sort, I thought it might be well to get the different thoughts of you people on the subject and submit them to the advertising department as added fod- der to work on. Yours for bigger and better Dandy Handy Candy Bar sales. J. A. Tishweiler. DANDY HANDY CANDY BARS, Ixc. Interoffice Memo From: Orville Munix, Se To: J. A. Tishweiler. Re: Thought on R.D.S. Hook-up. I“ recently talking to a friend of mine who is con- nected with a few small drug stores by marriage. He tells me they make the biggest profit on prescriptions ye because there is no standard price and people will not gle with their health. (Slogan idea: Do Not Haggle With Your Health.) Naturally, drug stores like to sell prescriptions and many of them have prescription depart- ments for this reason. So this is my thought. Why not sell more of them by building up the prescription depart- ment the way they boost tobacco sales by giving away a dollar pipe, a pouch and a lighter with every I5e tin of tobacco? Therefore, I think if the Retail Druggists’ Syn- dicate were to put in prescription departments and adver- tise they were giving enuine Dandy Handy Candy Bar with every prescription it would make the department very popular among sick people. Sick people do not always expect to be sick and when they get well they will want le candy as luscious as a Dandy Handy Candy Bar. So, then, give them a Dandy Handy Candy Bar free with their first prescription and they will return for more prescriptions. Do you check on this? Orville Munix. DANDY HANDY CANDY BARS, Inc. Interoffice Memo From: D. Loth, Treas. To: A. Tishweiler. Re: Advertising Notion. M y¥ nephew is in the mouthwash business and I think if I talked to him I could get him to sell his mouthwash to the Retail Druggists’ Syndicate at such a price that they (Continued on page 27) comicbooks.com