Life, 1929-05-10 · page 33 of 44
Life — May 10, 1929 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **cigarette advertisement**, not satire, featuring actress Fannie Ward endorsing Lucky Strike cigarettes. The ad exploits women's anxieties about weight and aging by positioning cigarettes as a diet substitute—"reach for a Lucky and not for a sweet." Key claims made: - Smoking suppresses appetite and maintains youth/figure - 20,679 physicians endorse Luckies as "less irritating" - The "toasting" process removes impurities - Lucky Strike outsold competitors in 1928 **Modern context**: This represents pre-FDA regulation tobacco marketing, when cigarette companies made unsubstantiated health claims and used celebrity endorsements to target women specifically. The messaging—equating smoking with beauty, youth, and self-control—was deliberately manipulative. Today such advertising would be illegal.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life “Reach for a Lu and not for a_ sweet” Famous for her Ever-Youthful Appearance ‘Reach for a Lucky and not fora sweet.’ That’s been my policy ever since Luckies started—my way of retaining the figure I need to be known as the ever-youthful Fannie Ward. So I say to you women who want to cheat time as I have done, ‘Reach for a Lucky and not for a sweet.’” FANNIE WARD modern common sense way— reach for a Lucky instead of a fatten- ing 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 impuri- ties. 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.” ote Authorities attribute the Ores enormous increase in Ciga- rette smoking to the improvement in the process of Cigarette manufacture by the application of heat. It is true that during 1928, Lucky Strike Cigarettes showed a greater increase than all other Cigarettes combined. This confirms in no uncertain terms the public’s confi- dence in the superiority of Lucky Strike. . Fannie Ward Famous for her Ever - Youthful “It’s toasted” No Throat Irritation-No Cough. Coast to coast radiohook-up every Saturdaynight through the National Broadcasting Company’s network. The Lucky Strike Dance Orchestra in “The Tunes that made Broadway, Broadway.” © 1929, The American Tobaceo Co., Manufacturers comicbooks.com