Life — October 11, 1917 — page 2: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page is primarily a **cigarette advertisement** for Omar brand, not political satire. The visual wordplay depicts letters spelling "OMAR" as anthropomorphized objects or characters floating above a small figure, illustrating the advertising tagline "Aroma makes a cigarette." The ad emphasizes Omar's "aroma" through repetition—the headline, body copy, and tagline all stress this quality. The product is marketed as a "perfect Turkish blend" featuring "rich Turkish and ripe accentuating leaves." The phrase "Smoke Omar for Aroma" is the central sales message. There is **no political cartoon or satire** on this page—it's straightforward commercial advertising typical of early-to-mid 20th-century magazine promotions, when cigarettes were openly advertised in mainstream publications.