Life, 1928-11-02 · page 35 of 48
Life — November 2, 1928 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Coca-Cola advertisement** disguised as literary commentary. The ad references Shakespeare's *Measure for Measure* (Act III, Scene 1), where a Duke disguised as a friar compliments a woman's virtue. The joke: The ad claims Shakespeare's eloquent praise—"The hand that hath made you fair hath made you good"—would be better expressed simply as an endorsement of Coca-Cola. It's a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that the drink is so universally good it could replace even the Bard's finest compliments. The illustration shows **period-costumed Shakespearean characters** (the Duke in friar's robes and a lady) alongside a Coca-Cola bottle, visually merging literature with the product. **The sales pitch**: The closing line "8 million a day" claims this many Coca-Colas are consumed—implying such success proves the product's inherent quality. This is early 20th-century advertising that uses cultural prestige (Shakespeare) to sell a mass-market beverage.
📄 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 Delicious and Refreshing “The hand that hath made you fair hath made you good”’ ~ You can pick any piece of literature to pieces. While in the fine statement above the Duke, dressed up like a friar, was talking about a lady g;— why bring that up? The fact remains that he could not have said it better if he had had a glass of Coca-Cola in his hand all the time. Translate it into plain United States and you get— It had to be good Meat fog Meare rye to get where it is = 8 million— . ‘ a day ‘The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta, Ga, comicbooks.com