6 of the Craziest Vintage Ads That Would Be Banned Today
YouTubes Dark 5 have compiled a list of the most dangerous and questionable products corporations have ever tried to sell to the public with these crazy advertisements that would be banned today. Watch the video below.
6. Lloyd Cocaine Toothache Drops. Instantaneous Cure! Hard to imagine today but, in the US, cocaine was sold over the counter until 1914 and was commonly found in products like toothache drops, dandruff remedies and medicinal tonics.
5. Bayer: Heroin, A Sedative for Coughs. From 1898 through to 1910, heroin was marketed as a cough suppressant by trusted companies.
4. Dutch Boy Lead Paint: Lead Party.
3. This ad for “Killing Salt Chemicals” from 1947 shows a range of dangerous applications for now-illegal DDT, from agricultural sprays to household pesticides. Particularly disturbing is the image of a mother and infant, above the caption stating that DDT “helps make healthier, more comfortable homes.”
2. Camel Cigarettes, More Doctors Smoke Camels. One common technique used by the tobacco industry to reassure a worried public was to incorporate images of physicians in their ads. The none-too-subtle message was that if the doctor, with all of his expertise, chose to smoke a particular brand, then it must be safe. Unlike with celebrity and athlete endorsers, the doctors depicted were never specific individuals, because physicians who engaged in advertising would risk losing their license.
1. Lady Out of the Dark, Norodin (Methamphetamine). Norodin is one of the most frightening supposed medicines on this list. It was the brand name for methamphetamine, the potent drug withdrawal from which causes depression, and which is strongly associated with suicide when used for long periods of time. The advertisement above claimed that Norodin was “useful in dispelling the shadows of mild mental depression” and that it has “relatively few side effects.”
Video Credits: Thanks to Dark 5 for putting together the video and the list. Music: "Atlantida" by Svarog Intro: "The Machine Thinks" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
