Life — December 12, 1930 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Advertisement, Not Political Satire This is primarily a **product advertisement** for Ingram's Shaving Cream, disguised as editorial content. The central cartoon depicts anthropomorphized shaving product containers (an Ingram jar and tube) engaged in a boxing match, with the headline "The Big fight is coming to a finish / Both going strong!" The two men pictured (W.L. Bomer, Export Manager, and W.B. Johnson, Assistant Sales Manager) provide testimonials about the product's superiority. The "contest" references a real $5,000 prize competition inviting consumers to submit essays about Ingram's versus competing shaving creams. This represents early 20th-century **advertising-as-entertainment**: using humor and competitive framing to promote consumer products. Modern readers might find the explicit product placement and the blurred line between advertisement and editorial content notable.