Life — March 19, 1925 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This satire by the cartoonist (signed "REBO") mocks competitive advertising practices. The central figure labeled "Andy Consumer" sits at a desk reviewing product bids, surrounded by floating advertisements for items like "AUTOS," "TOBACCO," "SARDINE," and "PIANO." The joke: advertisers submit "competitive bids" by constantly repeating their ads, assuming repetition proves product quality. Andy Consumer sardonically thanks them, noting that continuous advertising actually signals a good product—though he recognizes this logic is circular. The satire targets early 20th-century advertising's aggressive use of repetition as a marketing strategy, mocking both advertisers' faith in frequency and consumers' tendency to equate visibility with reliability. The cartoon suggests advertising has become a competitive bidding war where sheer volume replaces substantive product claims.