Life, 1929-02-15 · page 5 of 44
Life — February 15, 1929 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **cigarette advertisement**, not satire. It features George White, a noted theatrical producer, endorsing Lucky Strike cigarettes circa 1928. The ad's "joke" relies on period stereotypes: White claims dancers must stay "slender" to perform, so he recommends Lucky Strikes as a weight-control alternative to eating sweets. The tagline "It's toasted" and claims of "No Throat Irritation" were Lucky Strike's marketing hooks. The accompanying note boasts Lucky Strike outsold competitors in 1928, framing this as proof of public confidence. **For modern readers**: This reflects early cigarette marketing's brazen health claims and the normalization of smoking as appetite suppression—tactics now recognized as deceptive and harmful. The ad exemplifies how cigarette companies exploited celebrity endorsements and dubious health assertions before regulation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Light a Lucky Strike whenever you crave Sweets You cant dance unless Ne Fee wee you are slender” re “You can’t dance unless you are slender. Light a Lucky Strike when- ever you crave sweets. That’s what I discovered when I was active on the stage as a dancer. And, now I pass it on as advice to all my girls. The toasted flavor of Luckies is an appealing alternative for a sweet and quickly satisfies. Toast- ing has removed all impurities and Luckies cannot irritate the throat.” GEORGE WHITE Voter Authorities attribute te: the enormous increase in Cigarette smoking to the im- provement in the process of Cig- arette manufacture by the appli- cation of heat. It is true that in the year 1928, Lucky Strike Cigarettes showed a greater in- crease than all other Cigarettes combined. This surely confirms 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: through the National Broadcasting ror The Lucky StrikesDance Orchestra in network, “The Tunes that made Broad © 1929,The American TobaccoCos Manufacturers comicbooks.com