With epidemiological ragging, suspicious remedies in the form of lozenges, tonics, unguents, blood makers and antiseptic shields were guaranteed when kissing in one of the ads.
That 1918, during the influenza outbreak, eventually killed an estimated 50 million people, including 675,000 in the United States.
After more than a century, not much has changed. Advertisements promoting uncertified miracle therapies, including intravenous drips, ozone therapy and immune-boosting music, have targeted people trying to avoid coronavirus epidemics.
“History repeats itself,” said Roy Mendel, head of research at the genealogy website My Heritage, who compared the ads that were released to separate generations. “A lot of things are exactly the same, even after 108 years, even after so much progress has been made by science.”
This year, the California-based company is addressing the paddle address of products containing kratom, an herbal extract that worries regulators and health experts, promising that it “reveals the coronavirus.” The Food and Drug Administration sent a warning to the company in May.
The claims date back to 1918, when DP Pierce’s Pleasant Palette ad promised pills made from “May-apples, aloe leaves, jalapeos” – “protect against a deadly attack of Spanish influenza.”
Subsequent flu-fighting products include Sin-U-Form Lozenges, Clotab Laxative, Hudson’s Iron and Nux Tonic, Anti-Kamania Pills, Pepto-Mangan Blood Builders and “Syphilis of Hyphophosphites, Codewar Liver Oil Extraction, Made by Malt” Is. , Iron, wine and wild cherry peel. “
The announcement of the second remedy, Newfers Lung Tonic, raises the risk of the flu by noting that the number of epidemic deaths is “twice as many as our total war tragedy.” Peru, a widely popular drug that later became synonymous with quackery, promoted itself by claiming “nothing is better” to help “control Spanish influenza”.
Jason P., an associate professor of advertising at the University of Illinois. “Not much has changed in humans,” Chambers said. “We want to believe that we are smart, that we can detect lies, but the ability of advertising to maintain its credibility has only become more obscure over time.”
Everyday items were billed as health aid. Horlick promoted his contaminated milk production as “food during and after influenza,” which was “endorsed by physicians everywhere.” NB Long & Sone urged consumers to “fight the flu by eating good” like seeded raisins. The Motman Mercantile Company said that “one of the best ways to avoid the flu is to provide yourself with good warm underwear.”
There were also compressions, including a screen attached to a sterling silver handle like a miniature tennis racket, which acts as a .al between the lips of lovers. An ad for the product told potential customers that they could “kiss your female friend and you don’t have to worry about insects.” There was also the Branston Violet Ray Ozone Generator, sold on the promise that it “keeps your nasal passages, throat and lungs in a perfect antiseptic state.”
The rules of advertising in 1918 were in his childhood. The Federal Trade Commission, which refers to inappropriate or misleading marketing, has been open for less than three years. Companies can still claim, with minimal evidence, that they were backed by science, with journalist Samuel Hopkins Adams showing that popular drugs were often made primarily from alcohol and sometimes from deadly toxins.
At the same time, the proportion of advertising increased, accounting for more than 66% of newspaper revenue in 1920, up from 44% in 1880. Advertising revenue increased from 30 30 million to 8 850 million over the same period, the cited figures said. Journal of Marketing in Historical Research.
Since then, advertising has become a multi-billion dollar global business. Manoj Hastak, a marketing professor at American University and longtime advisor to the FTC, said regulators had to struggle to keep up with misleading advertisers, who sell very quickly before they suddenly disappear.
“I’m not sure there’s a clear idea that this will get better when the next epidemic comes,” he said. Companies are selling similar lies in new packaging, and these incidents are only increasing. The rules are getting better, but the process is still slow and the budget is very thin. That’s a bit of a wake-up-mall problem. “
In recent years, the rise of digital advertising has led to more space for advertising on more platforms, and the ability to rotate it in seconds. But as print publications, broadcast television, and other traditional media outlets tightened their advertising protocols, online advertisers began relying on automated auctions rather than human gatekeepers for placement.
Readers who get examples of quack ads from the humorous humor of 1918 should know that many examples of 2020 are no less absurd. It features the marketing of musical medicine, a compact disc that plays a “specially designed frequency to boost your immune system and weaken the virus” and a clip-emitting device emitting chlorine dioxide gas. The makers of both products are among dozens of companies that have received warnings from the FTC that they will stop making unsubstantiated claims that they could help treat or cure cancer.
As Americans begin taking the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna, officials are concerned that misleading ads could complicate the rollout or skepticism about the treatment. Facebook said it would block ads that boost sales of the Covid-19 vaccine or speed up access. Twitter And YouTube has banned content featuring approval claims about vaccines.
Michael Stich, chief executive of digital growth agency Court A Venue, said algorithms for advertising based on existing interests would continue to deliver problematic content to those who believe it.
“There is a lack of public broadcasting system within the internet,” he said. “My fear is that, how we take information now, in the circles where we choose to spend our time is not the general basis of what is ‘true’.”
