Life, 1927-02-10 · page 37 of 43
Life — February 10, 1927 — page 37: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This *Life* magazine piece argues that large-scale national advertising inherently polices product quality. The cartoon shows a figure (likely representing an advertiser or product representative) speaking to "Andy Consumer." **The argument's logic:** Big advertisers must stand behind their claims because massive advertising campaigns are too expensive to risk on inferior products. Unlike small-time con artists ("gold brick foundries," scams), national companies making public promises face accountability—"somebody in the audience is going to squeak" if they lie. **The satire's point:** This is actually pro-advertising propaganda, not satire attacking advertising. *Life* argues that expensive national campaigns serve as quality guarantees. The sheer financial commitment proves the product works; otherwise the company couldn't sustain repeated advertising. **For modern readers:** This reflects early 20th-century trust in big business and assumes advertising investment equals product reliability—a claim modern consumers would likely find naive or self-serving.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Cave ftise, Andy? ADVERTISERS CAN’T ADVERTISE AND HIDE, TOO DVERTISERS can’t advertise and then beat it. They have to hang around a while to cash in. Peanut carts don't advertise. Gold brick foundries don’t adver- tise. (Policemen can read, can’t they?) If an advertiser spends a small fortune to tell the world where he is, it's only common sense for him to be there. And be there with the g A little quiet dishonesty might pay a business, but you can’t tell lies on a big scale. Somebody in the audience is going to squeak. The mere magnitude and sheer cost of a big national advertising campaign purifies the product ad- vertised and fumigates the organ- ization behind it. Big scale ad- vertisers cannot afford big scale comebacks. They know if they start out to tell the world they had better tell the world straight. Advertising costs so much these days that there's hardly any adver- tising now to.make single sales. It pays only when it starts an ava- lanche of satisfaction. If you see somebody advertising right along, you know the goods are delivering the goods. THE NATIONAL ADVERTISER BETS HIS = ADVERTISING MONEY THAT HIS PRODUCT IS RIGHT comicbooks.com