Life, 1925-05-07 · page 2 of 44
Life — May 7, 1925 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
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.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE DONATES THIS SERIES IN BEHALF OF BETTER MERCHANDISE I INSIST ON PAYING THAT $1 RS. CONSUMER and I have decided to buy a pretty little HORDE car. oxide! Watch our mon- I understand that $1 out of the price of every HORDE car is spent for advertising. And I, Andy Con- sumer, get stuck for that dollar, because | am the guy who pays and pays and pays. They take $1 off of me and turn around and spend it for advertis- ing. It’s highway robbery! Well. this is once 1 WANT TO GET STUCK. I insist on paying that $1. About a coupla years ago Mr. HORDE decided to advertise. He was already doing pretty well, but he wanted to do better. He de- cided to nick $1 off of every HORDE and spend it in maga- zines, newspapers, etc. I thought HORDES would go up $1 each. Did they? No. No, they have come down several times the last year or so. The advertising that dollar has bought has sold so many more HORDES that Mr. HORDE can make ‘em for less and sell ‘em about as cheap as tricycles. If it weren't for that advertising (that $1) I might have to pay $50 more for my HORDE. And I'll spend $1 any day to make $49. That dollar’s worth of advertising is the best little spare part on a whole HORDE. | THE NATIONAL ADVERTISER BETS HIS 7 | ADVERTISING MONEY THAT HIS PRODUCT IS RIGHT | = | comicbooks.com