Life, 1911-02-09 · page 38 of 44
Life — February 9, 1911 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical advertisement contest, not a political cartoon. Life magazine is running a humorous competition where automobile manufacturers compete—but with an ironic twist: the "Great Booby Prize" goes to whichever car company advertises *least* in Life magazine, measured by line count. The joke: manufacturers naturally want to advertise heavily to win customers, yet Life is incentivizing the opposite behavior. The page mocks both automotive industry excess and advertising culture itself. References to "King George of England" and Joseph Cannon (a prominent American politician) as prize judges add absurdist humor. The leaderboard shows Locomobile leading with 3,780 lines of advertising—exactly the wrong position if you want the "booby prize." The satire suggests that restraint in advertising is so rare it's laughable, worthy of international recognition.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
This Mighty Man is the prospective winner of the Great Booby Prize in LIFE’S Auto Race now on. Whoever he may be, his sub- lime courage, his unprecedented nerve, entitle him to all the honors. We shall make an important announcement soon. The work of securing a committee competent to select an appropriate Booby Prize is now going on. No Booby Prize can be too distinguished to honor this great achievement—the wonderful restraint manifested by the contestant who deliberately tries to advertise as little as pos- sible in LIFE. Could anything be more soul-stirring? The winning car, by the way, will receive a handsome solid gold cup. This cup can be seen at any time. But the Booby Prize! That will be selected by a committee known the world over. We hope soon to announce their names. King George of England will, we are safe in saying, be one of the distinguished number. Also the honorable Joseph Can- non of America. In the meantime, we call attention to the interesting fact that the race is still open. Any auto can enter. Any auto, even now, may have a good chance to win the great consolation prize for the one having the least number of lines. In case two or more cars are tied at the finish, the award will be made by drawing lots, undercharge of judges to be selected by the contestants. Don't delay. Life’s Great Auto Race— Now Onl How They Stand Locomobile " 3,780 lines Rambler......... . 3,360 lines Baker Electric....... -2,520 lines Columbia iors ++ -2,100 lines Franklin. een ere 2,100 lines Hupp-Yeats......... Ray . +. -1,680 lines Oldsmobile : * : -1,680 lines - + 1,680 lines 1,288 lines +1,278 lines ‘ ee 260 lines McFarlan.. _ -1,260 lines Maxwell-Briscoe essai ve eee 1,260 lines ary -1,260 lines -1,260 lines Reameases - 1,064 lines Stevens-Duryea. ‘i - 868 lines Abbott-Detroit...... ecosene + 840 lines Broc Electric... . . - 840 lines Mr Chalmers...... acting - $40 lines eee Cunningham........ , E . 840 lines Hudson Motor Car 840 lines Stoddard Dayton... se - 840 lines Thomas Flyer..... aes . 840 lines Speedwell....... seceeees 735 lines Premier.........00050..5 ‘ 672 lines Rauch & Lang Electric. +.» 672 lines Waverley... pao reienece + 672 lines Kelly Motor. callie . 658 lines Reo.. eens + 644 lines R-O.. . seeeees 644 lines Palmer & Singer.. 630 lines seceeceeeees 448 lines Atlas Motor. aes . 448 lines Marmon. . . . 448 lines Carhart ... + 420 lines Corbin Motor. rime - 420 lines 420 lines 420 lines 336 lines : . 315 lines National Motor. : 224 lines Brewster... ° ‘ . 210 lines Club Car.. wa % 210 lines 53,624 lines comicbooks.com