Life, 1925-05-21 · page 38 of 40
Life — May 21, 1925 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a paid advertisement disguised as consumer advocacy journalism. "Andy Consumer" (a fictional character created by Life magazine) confronts a druggist selling cheap toothbrushes while claiming they're equivalent to the advertised PENETRATO brand. The satire targets deceptive retail practices: the druggist admits he profits more from inferior products he buys "dirt cheap" and falsely attributes the price difference to advertising rather than quality. Andy's investigation "proves" PENETRATO's superiority by calculating their advertising spend per brush (1.67 cents) is minimal and justified by genuine product quality. The tagline—"The National Advertiser Bets His Advertising Money That His Product Is Right"—frames advertising itself as evidence of product trustworthiness, essentially arguing that companies wouldn't spend money promoting inferior goods. This represents early 20th-century "consumer education" sponsored by corporations, promoting brand loyalty over generic alternatives while presenting corporate interests as consumer protection.
📄 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 WW) 4 1, £2,000, 000 Foot; Oude a YeAt 2 oy Lh, a, we : (ang abprpr/~ Atiim A Yea 22,000,000 [200,000] O16bbE 0773 4 = adwertising coat Jo me I FIGURE IT’S OUTRAGEOUS! 'HE other day | asked a drug- gist fora PENETRATO tooth- brush which comes in a box of its own and retails for 35 cents He tried to sell me a just-as-good toothbrush out of a basket for 25 cents. “There's no use paying that extra locents—it’s just for advertising.” he said. Well. | never make a big deal like that without going to the bottom of it. I investigated and found the PENETRATO Co. sells 12,000,000 toothbrushes a year. Their adver- tising appropriation is $200,000 a year—or 13% cents per brush. Where did that druggist get that to-cent stuff? I asked him point-blank, and he confessed he makes more profit on the 25-cent brushes because he buys them dirt cheap. He admit- ted that PENETRATO brushes are cleaner, better, more scientifi- cally shaped, and more reliable. A brush in a box is worth two in a basket. Before I left he said he was going to be a better boy and quit wasting his time on just-as-good goods. cH Comey THE NATIONAL ADVERTISER BETS HIS ADVERTISING MONEY THAT HIS PRODUCT IS RIGHT QUDE TOMERAL PRINTING CORPORATION, BROOKLYN. MY. comicbooks.com