We all know that ad campaigns have often created the disease or deficiency they wish to sell remedies for. "Halitosis" and "BO" were Madison Avenue inventions.
But perhaps no campaign dared quite as much as that for Cremo cigars, with its charge that all its competitors spit on their product.
During the 1920s, the cigar industry began to suffer from image problems. The rise of organized crime during Prohibition, and the image of the stogie-chomping gangster--developed in part by Hollywood, and personified by such actors as Edward G. Robinson--gave the cigar an aura of disrespect among the public. Later that decade, the cigar industry faced a second crisis, when American Tobacco began promoting new, machine-rolled cigars. Its advertising asked: "Why run the risk of cigars made by dirty yellowed fingers and tipped in spit?" The image proved disastrous for the cigar industry as a whole. Cigar makers rushed to convert their manufacturing from hand-rolled to machine-rolled products, but cigar sales plunged through the 1930s. During this same time period, the cigar industry was hit hard by the rise in cigarette use across the United States. Cigar consumption never recovered to its early 1920s peak.
It makes no difference whether you want your house painted or not; whether you want to use Sherwin-Williams or another brand; whether you plan to do it yourself or employ a different company. None of this counts in the face of O. J. Wangen's plan for world domination. "Let us have our way... We will have it, all or part of it in the end."
My favorite part of this 1950s billboard is the small sign at the bottom left: "DANGER ELECTRIC FENCE." Evidently needed to keep away the looky-loos trying to peek up the woman's skirt.
This product was so bizarre that it inspired a Monty Python skit. See the video below. (I have a vague memory of something about trim-jeans appearing on WU before, but couldn't find anything, so I decided I was wrong.)
1) Did girls and women acquire those same Charles Atlas muscleman biceps shown on the box, or just boys and men?
2) Do they eat Pep on the International Space Station today?
3) Does anyone today still say, "He's got pep!" or "I feel peppy!"...?
And if you haven't had enough cereal trivia, please allow me to highly commend this new book, which is a lot of fun. My review will appear soon at THE BARNES & NOBLE REVIEW.
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Lies, Dishonesty and Cheating, Smoking and Tobacco, 1930's, 1920's