Life — May 10, 1928 — page 35: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a **Coca-Cola advertisement** disguised as satirical content, likely from the 1920s-30s. The "joke" claims Shakespeare himself would have endorsed Coca-Cola. It shows King Richard III (a famously villainous Shakespeare character) alongside a castle, using a fake quote: "Framed in the prodigality of nature." The ad suggests Shakespeare would have appreciated Coca-Cola's refreshing qualities, just as Richard III supposedly did. The humor relies on anachronism—attributing modern product awareness to a 16th-century playwright—and the absurdity of treating a villain as a reliable endorser. The statistic "8 million a day" advertises Coca-Cola's popularity. The actual Shakespeare quote about Richard III is fabricated to serve marketing purposes. This represents aggressive early 20th-century advertising that co-opted high culture and literary authority to sell a mass-market product, treating consumers as credulous enough to believe Shakespeare would pitch soda.