Comments on: Cola Is Good For Babies: Fact Or Fiction?

By: RJ White

RJ White — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:33:56 +0000

I made this ad years ago. Posted about it earlier in the comments, but here’s a bit more background.

http://rjwhite.tumblr.com/post/472668874/fact-checking

By: J. Ward O'Brien

J. Ward O'Brien — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:02:34 +0000

While I may agree with the other points, your critique of number nine bothers me. I lived in Chicago until 1949 and in the Chicago area until 1953. Maybe my memory is hazy, but I don’t remember even knowing about ZIP codes until several years later. In fact, in agreement with me, Wikipedia says “ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service (USPS) since 1963″. That’s why there was no ZIP code in the ad.

By: Lana

Lana — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 23:24:56 +0000

I don’t think there was ever a Hart Ave. in Chicago. By the way, Chicago had Postal Zones, as did all large cities, started in 1943. We were in Chicago 43, Ill. (now 60643)

By: Researcher

Researcher — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 20:02:27 +0000

Just saw this ad on a Facebook page and was Googling the “SPBoA” to determine the validity of it and came across your page. Read your points, but I personally don’t feel that some of them make the point to prove it’s fraudulent.

Point 1: Soda, Cola, Pop or (all sugary carbonated beverages) are interchangeable words and it seems to me the ad uses all of them to cover their bases. What word is used just depends on what part of the country you’re from…i.e. in the West we call it soda. In the Midwest, it’s Pop. I will say however, that Colas tend to be dark sodas/pops.

Point 2: Many forms of advertising will put forth they use laboratory testing to make their point. This is no secret. Whether they do or not is left to question.

Point 3: The child shown is absolutely a baby! Can’t be more than a year or two.

Point 6: Aggressive advertising for the 50′s is exactly the point. People back then believed everything they read. If they thought it would be good for them, they’d buy it.

Point 7: You’ve never seen an error in ad before? Ever watch Jaywalking on the Tonight Show? Very poor choice to prove your point IMO.

Point 8: ILL or Ill is or was in fact the abbreviation for Illinois and is still used by some folks. The fact that it’s in all caps..another error? Another poor choice to prove fraudulence.

Point 9: Again, another poor choice. Lots of organizations in large cities do not uses zip codes in advertisements. Ex: Mortimer Schwartz’s Big Bank, 123 Broadway ~ New York, NY

At any rate, the ad may still be fake, and I’ve still yet to find out conclusively if it is. On another note, I could also totally see it being circulated back then. Ever see a cigarette ad back from then? Doctor Recommended! lol Ridiculous.

By: Kylie

Kylie — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 11:36:44 +0000

I stumbled upon this: http://www.rense.com/general89/badads.htm and the “cola” ad immediately stood out to me as the most outrageous of the lot, and also as the only one I hadn’t seen before. I noticed that the image used was Coca-Cola brand, but the large print said “cola” and the ad was sponsored by “the soda pop board of America”. The fact that they were talking about fitting in as teenagers, while marketing to parents of babies just seemed too bizarre for even the most naive days in the 50s. I googled “soda pop board of America” and this page was the first hit. Glad to see I”m not the only one who spotted this fake.

By: Hitman

Hitman — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:08:28 +0000

Well if the “Lard Information Council” existed, I suppose the Soda Pop Board of American could too. If it’s a spoof, it seems the author may have modeled it after the following ad.

http://tribes.tribe.net/vegansareyummy/photos/64e2f517-213a-46f8-9b52-575d14181386

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:44:55 +0000

I can’t swear that this particular ad is real, but having grown up in the late 50s and early 60s I can assure you that this is pretty typical (in terms of the language used as well) of what we used to get bombarded with. As to some of your points, right off the bat, “Ill.” was indeed the abbreviation for Illinois prior to the post office’s introduction of the two letter system, and zip codes, as noted by a previous commenter, didn’t exist until 1963. As to Jay’s assertion above that lifestyle didn’t exist as a word in English until the 70s, a few second’s of research would show the word was coined in 1929 and gained popularity in the late 50s and early 60s, just about the time of this ad. In terms of the whole lab tests thing, you’re thinking too much in the modern day, it wouldn’t have occurred to anyone as out of the ordinary back then to do lab tests on babies, and many parents would have been happy to have their kids “chosen” to participate, especially if they were paid well, and if it “contributed to national health” or some other such billing.

By: Marge

Marge — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:48:10 +0000

@Xzero, I got that e-mail also, titled “You won’t believe these ads. I forwarded before checking out the cola ad. Thought the “Soda Pop Board” sounded fake and couldn’t believe the “never too soon” line.

By: Jay Lynch

Jay Lynch — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:11:08 +0000

What immediately tipped me off to it being a fake was the word “Lifestyle” in the copy.
That word didn’t exist until the early 1970s. And since there was no zip code, that would imply the ad would have appeared before 1959.

By: Philip

Philip — Thu, 06 May 2010 02:25:03 +0000

There is no address 1515 W. Hart Ave. in Chicago. And Hart St. and Hart Rd. both run N/S.