Life, 1928-02-23 · page 31 of 35
Life — February 23, 1928 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily **advertising**, not satire or political commentary. The Ethyl Gasoline Corporation uses the phrase "Ethyl goes to England" as a marketing hook, employing "John Bull" (the personified character representing Britain) as a rhetorical device rather than caricature. The ad's logic: John Bull is conservatively skeptical of new inventions until proven superior. Therefore, Ethyl's acceptance by Britain (through established British oil companies) validates the product's quality to American readers. The map showing distribution across Canada, the US, and England emphasizes Ethyl's international success. The content emphasizes Ethyl's technical superiority—it's an "anti-knock" compound that improves engine performance. Over one million North American drivers allegedly use it. This represents early automotive advertising, where technical claims and appeals to tradition/reliability were standard. No political satire is apparent; it's straightforward product promotion leveraging Anglo-American cultural stereotypes about British conservatism and caution.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ANTI-KNOCK compound S&S ETHYL GASOLIN! CORPORATION EW YORK, U-S:A: S ONSERVATIVE fellow, old John Bull. Doesn’t accept a new improve- ment until he is sure it is an improvement. That’s why the introduction of Ethyl Gasoline into England has an especial sig- nificance. Ethyl is now available to the British motoring public through the service of one of the oldest and largest British oil companies. And the reasons why Ethyl has gone abroad are the reasons why more than 1,000,000 American and Canadian car owners are riding with Ethyl. It is the standard “anti-knock” fuel by which all other motor fuels are measured. It makes carbon deposits an asset. It delivers more power from each gallon of fuel—more power on hills and heavy roads .. quicker pick-up in traffic . . re- duced gear-shifting ... generally increased engine performance. Try Ethyl Gasoline today. On sale at pumps which display the “ETHYL” trademark shown above. And you get back the small premium price many times over in the greater satisfaction Ethyl gives. ETHYL GASOLINE 7 Ethyl goes to England comicbooks.com