Life, 1917-04-05 · page 15 of 70
Life — April 5, 1917 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a Michelin tire advertisement disguised as humorous verse. The narrative presents a motorist experiencing tire troubles ("blowing tires thus I find / Expensive"), whose despair transforms when he purchases a Michelin Universal tire, declaring it "economical" and his "reimbursial." The illustrated scene shows the massive tire being held aloft by anthropomorphized Michelin mascots (the rotund "Bibendum" characters recognizable from the brand's logo), while a satisfied motorist in an early automobile gestures triumphantly. The satire targets tire-blowing, a common and costly problem for early motorists. By presenting product endorsement as whimsical poetry with theatrical dramatics, the ad mocks both the motorist's exaggerated emotional response and contemporary advertising's overwrought appeals to reason through entertainment rather than substantive claims.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Alas, alack!” cried he aloud; “ My trials are sure extensive, And blowing tires thus I find u Qn < Too ia) oe > “) aPIAISY iu But though his grief was very great His woes were quickly ended ; He bought a tire that wore so well, ascended, soon spirits His Quoth he, “This economical tire Will be my reimbursal ; The tire for me, henceforth shall be | THE MICHELIN UNIVERSAL” comicbookexexeyin)