Life — February 12, 1925 — page 2: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The First Ad Ever Written by a Consumer" This satirical piece imagines a consumer (labeled "Andy Consumer") firing back at national advertisers with his own advertisement. The cartoon shows Andy shooting an arrow at a target-wearing figure labeled "National Advertiser," captioned "Getting Back at Him." The satire critiques the one-sided nature of advertising: historically, only corporations could advertise to consumers. Andy's fictional "first consumer ad" reverses this power dynamic—he threatens to launch a retaliatory advertising campaign next week to "tantalize" the big companies as they've teased him. The joke reflects early-20th-century frustration with aggressive marketing tactics. By imagining consumer-created counter-advertising, the piece humorously protests the asymmetrical relationship between corporations and the public they target.