12 Outrageous Magazine Ads from the Past
Take a step back in time and witness the jaw-dropping creativity of vintage magazine ads that pushed boundaries, defied logic, and sometimes left us scratching our heads. From bizarre health claims to marketing tactics that wouldn’t fly today, these ads offer a fascinating (and hilarious) glimpse into the wild world of old-school advertising.
Some are unintentionally funny, others are downright shocking, but they all share one thing—they made people stop and stare.
1. The Vibrating Belt: 1950s Fitness Craze
Move over, Peloton—the 1950s had the ultimate “lazy” workout machine!
The Vibrating Belt claimed to shake off the pounds while you stood still, requiring zero effort. These ads often featured grinning housewives in heels, casually letting a giant rubber band jostle their waistline.
The idea that fat would just jiggle away is laughable today, but back then, it seemed revolutionary. While it didn’t quite deliver a six-pack, it did make for some fantastic home workout photos!
2. Tapeworm Diet Pills: Slimming Sensation of the 1900s
Yes, you read that right—diet pills containing live tapeworms were actually a thing!
Marketed as an easy way to “Eat and Stay Thin,” these pills allowed a parasite to digest your food for you. The ad featured a slim woman, seemingly thrilled about her uninvited dinner guest.
But what about introducing a literal parasite into your body for weight loss? Well, yikes. Thankfully, modern science has given us much safer (and less horrifying) ways to stay fit!
3. Camel Cigarettes: More Doctors Smoke Camels
If you needed a medical opinion on what cigarettes to smoke, the 1940s had you covered!
Camel’s infamous ad boldly claimed that doctors preferred their brand over others—because nothing says “health-conscious” like a doctor with a cigarette in hand.
Seeing a physician pushing tobacco as a “healthy” choice is shocking today, but back then, it was just another day in the advertising world. Turns out, even white coats couldn’t make smoking good for you!
4. Lysol: Feminine Hygiene Product of the 1920s
Before it became a household disinfectant, Lysol was once marketed as a feminine hygiene product—and not in the way you’d expect.
These ads suggested that using Lysol (yes, the cleaning product) could help women maintain “freshness” and marital bliss.
If you’re cringing at the thought, you’re not alone! Not only was this practice medically unsafe, but it also played on societal pressure for women to meet impossible standards of “purity.”
5. Cocaine Toothache Drops: 1880s Pain Relief
Before modern pain relievers, cocaine-infused toothache drops were all the rage.
These ads featured smiling children, blissfully unaware of their chemically-induced euphoria, thanks to their “miracle” remedy.
But marketing cocaine as a children’s pain reliever? Absolutely wild. While doctors eventually figured out the dangers, it’s a mind-blowing reminder of how medicine has (thankfully) evolved.
6. Palmolive: Keep That Schoolgirl Complexion
Back in the 1920s, Palmolive promised eternal youth—if you just kept using their soap.
The ad claimed that washing your face with Palmolive would keep your skin looking as fresh as a teenager’s—because clearly, aging was the enemy!
The obsession with youth has always been around, but marketing a bar of soap as the fountain of youth is next-level ridiculous. Spoiler alert: it didn’t actually stop time.
7. Chesterfield Cigarettes: Blow Some My Way
Chesterfield wasn’t just selling cigarettes—they were selling smoky romance.
This ad featured a glamorous woman, eyes smoldering, as she urged someone to blow smoke in her face.
Today, secondhand smoke is a known health hazard, but back then? It was apparently a sign of attraction. Nothing says romance like inhaling someone else’s cigarette fumes!
8. 7-Up: The Fresh Up Family Drink
Move over, baby formula—7-Up was once suggested as a drink for infants!
This ad featured a smiling mother pouring the sugary soda into a baby bottle, while proudly calling it a “wholesome” choice.
Today, we know soda and babies do not mix, but the 1950s saw nothing wrong with a little carbonated refreshment for the kiddos. Can you imagine a pediatrician recommending this today?
9. Pear’s Soap: The White Man’s Burden
Not all outrageous ads are funny—some are just appalling.
Pear’s Soap once ran an ad promoting colonialism and racial superiority, claiming that “cleanliness is next to godliness”—and that their soap could somehow civilize the world.
The blatant racism in this ad is disturbing, yet it serves as an important reminder of how marketing once reinforced harmful ideologies. Thankfully, society has evolved beyond these outdated and offensive messages.
10. Pond’s Vanishing Cream: Vanish Those Freckles
Freckles? A beauty crime in the 1920s—or so Pond’s wanted you to believe.
Their ads insisted that freckles were flaws, and that only their cream could help women achieve the “perfectly spotless” face.
What we now celebrate as adorable natural beauty was once marketed as something to “fix.” Imagine trying to tell Emma Stone or Meghan Markle to “vanish” their freckles today!
11. Dr. Batty’s Asthma Cigarettes: 1890s Breathing Cure
Got asthma? Just light up a cigarette!
This ad proudly promoted cigarettes as a cure for respiratory issues—which is as backwards as it gets.
Smoking to improve your breathing is like eating a gallon of ice cream to lose weight—yet somehow, this ad wasn’t even questioned at the time!
12. Wheaties: Breakfast of Champions
Wheaties ads boldly claimed that eating their cereal turned you into a champion, featuring athletes as proof.
While Wheaties is a fine breakfast choice, it didn’t actually guarantee sports stardom—but hey, at least they weren’t recommending tapeworms!