Johnson & Johnson has manufactured first-aid and medical supplies for more than a century. Are their bandages, tape, and cotton swabs really that much better than anyone else’s? Hmmm, probably not. So in the 1940s, the company embarked on one of the most astonishing advertising campaigns I’ve ever seen. Employing a series of stark magazine ads — with such morbid headlines as “Never to Dance Again,” “Tragedy,” and “Loneliness” — they warned parents that using first-aid products from other companies would leave their children crippled, maimed, even dead. Oh, they laid on the guilt pretty thick.
I first noticed these ads while thumbing through a 1941 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine. A full-page advertisement carried the cheery headline, “WHAT’S FATHER BRINGING HOME TONIGHT?” And a close look at the photo revealed that Father, with a downcast face, was walking to the front door with a pair of brand-new CRUTCHES under his arm. Now why would Father be bringing home crutches? Let the rest of the ad tell the whole grim story:
