Life, 1929-03-29 · page 29 of 36
Life — March 29, 1929 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **cigarette advertisement**, not satire—it's a genuine 1929 marketing campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes. The page features **Irene Bordoni**, a real French-American entertainer, endorsing Lucky Strikes as a weight-control alternative to sweets. Her quote claims she smokes to "keep petite" rather than eat French pastries, framing cigarettes as a diet aid. The ad makes now-shocking health claims: that Lucky Strikes are "less irritating than other cigarettes" (citing 20,679 physicians), cause "no throat irritation" or cough, and that toasting removes impurities. **Historical context modern readers need**: This represents pre-FDA regulation advertising. Tobacco companies routinely made unsubstantiated health claims and used celebrity endorsements. Women were specifically targeted with messaging linking smoking to weight management and glamour—a marketing strategy later revealed as deliberate industry strategy. The "toasted" process was real but irrelevant to health; the health claims were entirely false.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘Non, Non- sweets are not for me -/ smoke a Lucky to keep petite” ay ajrcae Go “Non, non—sweets are not for me—I smoke a Lucky to keep petite. I cannot afford to eat the French pastries that my countrymen know so well how to make. What would my public think if La Bordoni were no longer slim and petite? So, I smoke my favorite Lucky Strike, with its delightful flavor. It rests my tired nerves after the play—it never irritates my throat—and, it always makes me so happy.”” TrENE BorDont HE modern common sense way—reach for a Lucky instead of a fattening sweet. Everyone is doing it—men keep healthy and fit, women retain a trim figure. Lucky Strike, the finest tobaccos, skilfully blended, then toasted to develop a flavor which is a delightful alternative for that craving for fattening sweets. Toasting frees Lucky Strike from impurities. 20,679 physicians recognize this when they say Luckies are less irritating than other cigarettes. That’s why folks say: “It’s good to smoke Luckies.” Authorities attribute the enormous —— > increase in Cigarette smoking to the improvement in the process of Cigarette manufac- ture by the application of heat. It is true that during the year 1928 Lucky Strike Cigarettes showed a greater increase than all other Cigarettes combined. This confirms in no uncertain terms the public’s confidence in the superiority of Lucky Strike, “It’s toasted” No Throat Irritation-No Cough. Coast to coast radio hook-up every Saturday night through the National Broadcasting Company’s network. The Lucky Strike Dance Orchestra in" The Tunes that made Broadway, Broadway.” ©1929, The American Tobacco Co., Manufacturers comicbooks.com