Life, 1925-07-02 · page 2 of 47
Life — July 2, 1925 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is an advertisement disguised as editorial content, promoting better merchandise through national advertising. The cartoon contrasts two grocery stores: "Hep's Grocery" (crowded, successful) and "Hem & Haw Grocers" (nearly empty). The satire argues that Hep's thrives because he stocks advertised national brands customers recognize and trust, requiring minimal clerk effort. Hem & Haw's clerks must constantly explain products to skeptical customers who don't recognize unadvertised brands—a inefficient business model. The bylined "Andy Consumer" argues that while advertising seems wasteful, it actually benefits small retailers by creating customer demand for specific products, reducing sales friction. The message: national advertising generates "good will" worth thousands of dollars to local merchants who stock those brands. This reflects early 20th-century debates about modern marketing's economic value.
📄 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 THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS’ WORTH OF GOOD WILL—FREE ae ER stop to think how any little grocery or drug store in Ipecac, Indiana, or anywhere, can be a national institution, for noth- ing, if it wants to? It can take advantage—free—of all the advertising of all the adver- tised goods in all the magazines and newspapers if it wants to. (Sometimes I almost get enthu- siastic about national advertising.) It (the little store) can plug in on all this never-ending supply of good will, just by stocking up on adver- tised brands. Mr. Hep, my grocer, has done it His store is a speedy place. People flock it full because they know about the things he has to sell. They can call their shots. His clerks are busy every minute. His rent is no white elephant. His turnover is like lightning. Hep has had sense enough to let his store take free advertising. Hem & Haw, Grocers, next door, don’t believe in advertised brands. Their clerks have to explain every- thing they sell. Their store is idle half the time. But clerk hire and rent are the same as Hep’s. | give Hem & Haw six months. Yes. sir, sometimes I think adver- tising is all right. od Coot sumes THE NATIONAL ADVERTISER BETS HIS ADVERTISING MONEY THAT HIS PRODUCT IS RIGHT | comicbooks.com