Life, 1929-01-18 · page 4 of 44
Life — January 18, 1929 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Dunlop tire advertisement** disguised as editorial content, featuring Will Rogers as the celebrity endorser. The cartoon shows Rogers with a lasso, playing on his famous cowboy persona and Oklahoma roots. The "joke" is that Dunlop tires have "antiquated all guarantees" through their new Surety Bond backing (underwritten by American Surety Company). The ad satirizes competitors' tire guarantees as worthless, using folksy Oklahoma language: "If your tire goes sour within 12 months Dunlop will be the goat." The advertisement lists extensive coverage (accidents, blowouts, misalignment, etc.) while mocking other tire-makers' claims of quality. Rogers's credibility as a trusted public figure lends authority to the product pitch. This represents early 20th-century advertorial marketing—blending entertainment with commercial promotion.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Boy! page Will Rogers calling Mister Rogers? Dunlop takes the Bunk out of Tire Guarantees Wirt Rocers and his Anti- Bunk Party (the party of the first part) will be glad to know that Dunlop has antiqued all guarantees. With each Dunlop Tire, the buyer now gets a Surety Bond that is backed by Dunlop AND the American Surety Company. AMERICAN SURETY of New Yor It contains no prima facte— not even an anno domini.It says in good oldOklahoma English: If your tire goes sour within 12 months Dunlop will be the goat. Or putting it another way: If your tire goes fluey within a year, Dunlop will stand the gaff. It covers almost everything except a fewcases like your tires being caten up by a hippopot- amus. For instance, it specific- ally covers your tires against accident, collision, blow-out, mis-alignment, stone-bruise, road-cuts, rim-smash, side-wall injuries, tube-pinching, valve- tearing, faulty toc-in, under- inflation. If any of these catastrophes catast, your dealer fixes your tires free, or. . . if he can’t re- pair them . . . he gives youa new tire at a reduced price (de- pending on how many months you have worn the old one). Over 3000 Dunlop dealers now offer this Surety Bond. Just as soon as they get around to it, it will be offered by all Dunlop dealers all the way across the U.S. A., from Jimmy Walker's village to the burg that Will Rogers mayored. Any tire-maker can proclaim that his tires are ‘‘the best tires made."’ But, Dunlop says it with a Surety Bond. DUNLOP THE TIRE WITH THE SURETY BOND comicbooks.com