Scanning Around with Gene: If Only You Weren't So Offensive

Even though we seem to have come to a point where little is sacred, in some areas we’ve actually turned the “frankness level” down a bit. This may be because advertisers discovered that frank talk about body odors and other offenses make people squeamish and turn them off. Or that they discovered it’s more effective to tell people they can smell like a budding flower on a spring day just after a rain shower, than it is to tell them they stink.
I can’t believe that the problems articulated so bluntly in these ads, which range from 1934 to 1954, were more prevalent then than they are now. But you’d think the solution to almost all social problems back then was to simply purchase the right product. Click on any image for a larger version.



Some professionals believe the problems addressed by these products are not really what the advertisers would lead us to believe, and that special products are not necessary to “treat” them. But we buy the products and use them out of fear that we are, in fact, one of those people that has to guard against such offenses.


And there is no better way to instill fear than to associate our inadequacies with work success, social standing or a successful marriage. Seems bad breath or a dingy shirt can kill them all pretty quickly.


We’ve come so far in this sort of advertising that many modern ads say the exact same thing, only in a parody fashion which is suppose to be funny. Yet the message is still the same — chew this gum or use this cologne and you will get all those things you’ve been missing out on.




My favorite of the bunch is this one, for Lux laundry detergent. The poor woman has to watch as the gay neighbors pile in the car (complete with rumble seat — what fun) and take of on a merry adventure. Could it be her smelly under things? The P.S. to the ad? “Now Mrs. Hays has many friends in town…”

And what young gal wouldn’t be horrified by getting a Wall-Flower Valentine? In this case, the solution is a good cup of tea, which “peps” you up and keeps you perky. And God knows everyone prefers perky to slowpoke.


It’s one thing to have bad breath or some other problem, but if you have to break up a marriage I hope it wouldn’t be over something as trivial as the whiteness of a man’s shirt. Seems this poor woman is at wit’s end trying to rekindle the romance.


And what couple hasn’t had a knockdown “Don’t Speak to Me!” kind of fight over shabby-looking shoes worn to a party? This couple did. If only he had thought to buy Kiwi Boot Polish. He could have saved his marriage and his wife the humiliation of being seen with him.


And how about this poor guy who never knew why the girl he loved married another. Turn out it was mere halitosis (bad breath). When they gave it a medical name they really hit a nerve, I’m sure. The tagline? “Before any date….. Listerine Antiseptic.” You bet — there’s nothing like bad breath masked by the smell of Listerine Antiseptic to turn a gal on.



In this sequence, John forgets their anniversary because she smells bad. And, as we discover when she turns to Auntie, it’s because she’s been indifferent in not buying Lifebuoy Health Soap. One bar of sweet soap = one 2lb box of candy. Not a bad trade.




Don’t get me wrong — anything that boosts confidence is great in my book. So if you are a he without a she, or a she who gets no male, then maybe you should switch toothpastes or laundry soap. It’s worth a few extra pennies to have a happy life.

Gene Gable has spent a lifetime in publishing, editing and the graphic arts and is currently a technology consultant and writer. He has spoken at events around the world and has written extensively on graphic design, intellectual-property rights, and publishing production in books and for magazines such as Print, U&lc, ID, Macworld, Graphic Exchange, AGI, and The Seybold Report. Gene's interest in graphic design history and letterpress printing resulted in his popular columns "Heavy Metal Madness" and "Scanning Around with Gene" here on CreativePro.com.
  • Anonymous says:

    Gene,
    Are these images in the public domain?
    Thanks,
    Sue

  • Anonymous says:

    Makes me proud to be an advertising professional!
    Uh, I think I’ll go take a shower

  • GeneGable says:

    It’s hard to say for sure if these images are now considered public domain. Some of the products are no longer being sold and the companies are likely out of business, but that does not mean the rights are necessarily open as another company may have purchased them. Most of these are from the Forties, so they could be expired, but then again it depends on the way the copyright was filed and or if it was renewed. I would be cautious about any commercial use of these images, but they can certainly be used in “fair use” situations such as teaching, books, articles, etc., and if you have a specific image in mind, let me know and I can tell you the product and date. [email protected].

  • Anonymous says:

    The pictures are very interesting to look at! They hide of course other messages they want the reader to know in a subliminal way or whatever it is called, it has to do with Freud also of course. But is it not very obvious that in the second ad from the bottom the aunt is a He and the girls husband is a She… And look at the black gloves and long hands of the aunt and the things in the room, very intersting in a psychological way of analysing the pictures. Thank you for a very interesting cavalcade. By the way I like to sit home and read books -now I have ben very insecure over why I do it…
    regards
    Anna-Mi Wendel

  • Anonymous says:

    Look at the auntie: is it not Clark Kent? And look at all the items around when he/she is around: tall small hard objects. And opposite at the last picture with the feminim husband, round objects 8the hat!) in a feminim atmosphere.
    I wonder also if the artist, the one who was drawing, the pictures in the sequence aboput the Valentine card, that style of drawing look exactly like in the cartoon, oh god I forgot the name, Google of course: Johnny Hazard by frank robbins, started 1944
    Over
    Anna-Mi

  • Anonymous says:

    Gene, I can’t wait for your articles. I think I became a designer because my grandmother never threw anything away and I got hooked on her old magazines and my uncle’s comics from 1920 on. Thanks for always making me smile, but these really take the cake. LOVE the chick by the mailbox!

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