The London Independent’s i100 website recently dug up an old advertisement that appeared in Life magazine in February of 1962 and put it up under the shock headline: “This is a real advert.” The Independent continued: “It may seem difficult to believe, but this is a genuine advert from an oil company published in the 1960s.” This was followed by a photo of the mouth of a mighty glacier beneath which, in large type, are the words: “Each day Humble supplies enough energy to melt 7 million tons of glacier.” Beneath that, if your screen is big enough, you can just about make out the original ad copy:
This giant glacier has remained unmelted for centuries. Yet, the petroleum energy Humble supplies—if converted into heat—could melt it at the rate of 80 tons each second! To meet the nation’s growing needs for energy, Humble has applied science to nature’s resources to become America’s Leading Energy Company. Working wonders with oil through research, Humble provides energy in many forms—to help heat our homes, power our transportation and to furnish industry with a great variety of versatile chemicals. Stop at a Humble station for new Enco Extra gasoline, and see why the “Happy Motoring” sign is the World’s First Choice!
Nowadays, of course, such an “advert” would never do. It is far too verbose, taking nearly a hundred words before it gets to the pay-off about the new Enco Extra gasoline—which, after all, nobody wanted to
