Because publisher William M. Gaines took no advertising for MAD magazine, his artists and writers had free rein to lampoon any product and brand without fear of losing a client. Hence the fake adverts that featured most often on the magazine’s back cover.
Flickr user Jaspero scanned scores of them from the 1950s to the early 1970s. Back then tobacco advertising was pretty much everywhere. Lest you be in any doubt how great smoking tobacco was, doctors advertised their love of smoking – and so too did Santa Claus. Cigarettes were good for women, romance, your figure, sex, your wardrobe, her throat, his libido and Mother Nature. And the ads that made you want them were great for satire…
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