Life, 1926-07-08 · page 39 of 41
Life — July 8, 1926 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Listerine advertisement disguised as editorial content** — a common advertising technique of the era. The page opens with a romantic dialogue where a woman refuses a marriage proposal, hinting the man has bad breath ("something about you that I could never put up with") without directly saying so. This sets up the advertisement's pitch. The bulk of the text educates readers about **halitosis** (bad breath) — presenting it as an embarrassing condition people don't realize they have, even when close friends notice. The ad emphasizes that Listerine, used as a mouth wash and gargle, solves this "local condition." **The satire/manipulation**: The dialogue frames halitosis as a romantic deal-breaker, then the ad copy exploits social anxiety and shame to sell the product as a solution to an invisible social liability. The "challenge" at bottom offers Listerine Tooth Paste as proof of effectiveness. This represents early **20th-century advertising psychology** — using fear and social embarrassment to drive consumer behavior. Modern readers would recognize this as manipulative marketing targeting insecurity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ZOU know very well I like you,” she said, “But what?” he de- manded quickly. “But marry you— never!” she said simply. “There’s something about you that I could never put up with.” “And what's that?” “Oh, well, let’s not dis- cuss it—at least not to- night. Sometime I may tell you—still, maybe never.” s *¢ & You, yourself, rarely know when you have halitosis (un- pleasant’ breath). That's the insidious thing about it. And even your closest friends won't tell you. Sometimes, of course, hali- tosis comes from some deep- seated organic disorder that requires professional advice. But usually—and fortunately —halitosis is only a local con- dition that yields to the regular use of Listerine as a mouth wash and gargle. It puts you on the safe and polite side. Moreover, in using Listerine to combat halitosis, you are quite sure to avoid sore throat and those more seri- ous illnesses that start with throat infections, Listerine halts food fermen- tation in the mouth and leaves the breath sweet, fresh and clean. Not by substituting some other odor but by really removing the old one, The Listerine odor itself quickly disappears. This safe and long-trusted antiseptic has dozens of dif- ferent uses; note the little cir- cular that comes with every bottle. Your druggist sells Listerine m the original brown package only—never in bulk. There are four sizes: 14 ounce, 7 ounce, 3 ounce and 1% ounce. Buy the large size for econ- omy.— Lambert — Pharmacal Company, Saint Louis, U.S.A. % FS = A Challenge ‘MALITOSIS LUSTERINE Tet ‘i We'llmake a little wager Ss with you that if you try one tube of Listerine Tooth Paste, you'll come back for more. LARGE TUBE—25c comicbooks.com