The puff chart

Cigarette manufacturers have claimed ridiculous statements, but nothing like the "puff chart" - that shows you that you are "always ahead". According to this piece, the product is better because it "makes the smoke travel further and makes it mild".

Amazing. And it guards against throat-scratch too!

"Always ahead", 1949
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All you want

Ironically, the following piece is an advertisement for toothpaste, not tobacco products.

It invites the reader to smoke all they want, with the understanding that any stains in your teeth will be wiped off by using the product. And you will also get a fresh and minty breath.

"All you want", 1949
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Tooth decay and the importance of brushing after meals only get a passing mention at the bottom of the copy, with the wording "It's mainly up to you". Nice.

Plug and play

This is a fantastic piece from 1949 - television sets were fairly new back then and the consumerist boom of the 1950's was about to get in full swing.

But prices were still very high.

The smallest set on this ad is $229.95; back then it was 10% of the yearly average wage, or 25% of the average price of a brand new car. So buying a television set is an investment.

How do you sell it?

Make it easy to use. No aerial (antenna) - they all use the Philco Electronic Built-In Aerial System!

Just "Plug and Play". What a wonderful expression: it sold televisions back then, and it's still selling computers and operating systems right now.

"Just plug in and play", 1949
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Not a single one

You gotta love those people in the tobacco advertising industry. The claims on behalf of their products are almost legendary.

Take this one for instance. Not a single case of throat irritation. No sir. Not one. The specialists could not find *one single case* among all the people they examined.

Which, according to the ad, was in the order of 2470 weekly throat examinations. Wow.

How many doctors did they have on payroll?

"Not a single case", 1949
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