Life, 1928-02-16 · page 29 of 38
Life — February 16, 1928 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Coca-Cola advertisement** disguised as satirical content. It uses Shakespeare's *Othello* to humorously defend Coca-Cola's brand name against legal challenge. The cartoon depicts characters from *Othello* (Act II, Scene 3)—apparently Othello and other figures—with a glass of Coca-Cola. The joke: Shakespeare's line about a name being "great in mouths of wisest censure" is reapplied to Coca-Cola's trademark. The advertisement references an actual **U.S. Supreme Court ruling** regarding Coca-Cola, stating the brand name characterizes a specific beverage from a single source—legally protecting the trademark. By attributing this concept to Shakespeare writing "for our day," the ad suggests the drink's reputation is timeless and universally recognized. The bottom tagline, "It had to be good to get where it is," emphasizes Coca-Cola's market dominance (8 million sold daily). This is sophisticated corporate messaging using literary authority and legal validation to reinforce brand prestige.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
What Shakespeare says about Coca-Cola “‘Your name is great in mouths of wisest censure”’~ Mr. Othello was always very serious. Naturally, Mr. Shake- speare, writing for our day as well as his own, picked him to utter the remark above— a fitting caption for an opin- ion cheUaited States Supreme Court was one day to hand _ down on Coca-Cola: “ «The name now characterizes a beverage to be had at almost any soda fountain. It means a single thing coming from a single source, and well known to the community.” Othello The Coca-Cola Compacy, Atlaota, Ga Act II, Scene 3 d day IT HAD TO BE GOOD TO G comicbooks.com