Advertisers were sometimes a little heavy-handed during the Great Depression. But this 1937--Personal to Fat Girls--advertisement takes the cake, so to speak.
The fine folks at Marmola (link to related eBay auctions) Prescription Tablets wanted so-called 'fat girls' to slim down by taking 4 of these miracle pills per day. The ad gives it to the chunky ladies straight--"don't let others think you have no spunk and that your will-power is as flabby as your flesh."
I don't know how many bottles of pills Marmola sold through this mean little ad, but I have a fair guess at the percentage of women they insulted with their harsh and frank advertising copy.
sounds great! Where can I get some :)
Posted by: marilyn | October 22, 2006 at 12:55 PM
I bet this ad sold a lot of amphetamines.
Posted by: Miss Cellania | December 04, 2006 at 09:53 AM
I found an ad for Marmola in my mother-in-law's recipes. It is not the same as the one above but just as descriptive. No telling how much money they made.
Posted by: Deborah Hopper | June 03, 2007 at 05:21 PM