Life — May 7, 1925 — page 2: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is a Life magazine advertisement for Horde automobiles, featuring "Andy Consumer" as the narrator. The satire targets consumer complaints about advertising costs. Andy Consumer argues that he *insists* on paying the $1 advertising surcharge built into every Horde car's price. His counterintuitive position is that this advertising dollar is actually beneficial: it allows Horde to reduce manufacturing costs through economies of scale, ultimately making cars cheaper than they'd otherwise be. The cartoon shows a wealthy couple in a convertible car, illustrated in period style (early 20th century). The ad's message reflects Depression-era or post-war arguments about advertising's role in mass production and consumer benefit—the notion that advertising spending justifies itself by enabling lower consumer prices through increased sales volume.