Life — April 30, 1914 — page 43: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a **Coca-Cola advertisement**, not political satire. The image shows a woman in profile drinking from a Coca-Cola bottle, with the tagline "delicious" and "Pure and Wholesome." The ad includes a notice: "Demand the genuine by full name—Nicknames encourage substitution," warning consumers against accepting imitations or generic substitutes. This reflects early 20th-century marketing concerns about brand protection and counterfeit products. The "pure and wholesome" claim was common advertising language of the era, though modern readers should note this predates meaningful FDA regulation of such claims. The ad ran in *Life* magazine, which published both satirical content and paid advertisements.