Life — October 26, 1916 — page 45: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a cigarette advertisement for Rameses brand, appearing in Life magazine. The ad features the Great Sphinx of Giza in the background, with a large Rameses cigarette package displayed prominently below. The headline reads "Nobody ever changes from Rameses" and subtitles claim it offers "The Aristocrat of Cigarettes" with "Week end tins of 100." The ad exploits the Egyptian imagery and Rameses' pharaonic associations to suggest the brand's timeless prestige and superiority. The Sphinx reference implies ancient permanence and authority. The messaging suggests Rameses smokers are loyal to a premium product—that switching brands would be abandoning quality. This reflects early 20th-century advertising's use of exoticism and claims of aristocratic distinction to market consumer goods.