German ads: Toothpaste aka Zahnpasta/Zahncreme

[write-light.livejournal.com]

Guess whose fault it is that little Billy has a black eye, and why.

Colgate, 1952 

"Blue eyes [what they call black eyes] are striking - but not this kind!"

Via vongestern.com, a great site. 



Note about the translation: Box 1 and 4 are in RHYME, for no reason.  The doctor in Box 2 and the message in Box 3 are not rhyming.  Bill is a surprisingly rude boy (and I'm guessing, she's his older sister - or his teacher - or his mother.  It's a bizarre ad).

Translation:
Box 1, Woman: Bill, that's just crazy that I should bear the blame for your black eye.  Bill:  You and John will never become friends, the guys always yell at me, because your breath drives him away.  That's why I scuffled, for your sake.  But to end the fight, you better get to a dentist.
Box 2: Colgate toothpaste improves your breath and prevents tooth decay the best, if you clean your teeth immediately after meals.
Box 3: No other toothpaste cleans teeth better than Colgate toothpaste.  And how pleasantly refreshing the aroma is!
Box 4: Now Bill is not mocked; John and I are reconciled.

In the authoritative dentistry literature, published experiments prove that brushing your teeth right after meals with COLGATE TOOTHPASTE helps best to prevent tooth decay!

**blather about American university research on brushing with Colgate after meals**


DuroDont Luxury Toothpaste with 35% Alcohol! (1958)




Cultivated Dental Care
with alcohol -- a sensational discovery which has been in the air for years.  Since ancient times, the most costly things in this world, like gemstones, pearls, ivory and other jewels have been cleaned without violent "scrubbing and rubbing" by means of pure, dirt-dissolving alcohol.  Why should something so useful to ivory and pearls not also be good for our teeth?  The idea of a self-cleaning, foaming and refreshing toothpaste was born.  DuroDont found the recipe for a new oral hygiene.  -- If you want to do your teeth a favor, demand DURO 35 by name on your next shopping trip.  You will be pleasantly surprised.

ALCOHOL-LUXURY TOOTHPASTE 

A DuroDont product with 35 percent alcohol


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Comments

[cuddyclothes.livejournal.com]

I'll have a DuroDont toothpaste with a beer chaser.

[hannahsarah.livejournal.com]

OMG, I love your icon so much!

[cuddyclothes.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[hannahsarah.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing she's a big sister, judging by the books she's carrying in the first pic. Probably just started college and dating.

[tree_and_leaf]

Yes - also "Freund" is ambiguous in German, it can either mean 'friend' or 'boyfriend', and it's pretty clear that the latter's meant here. The boys are teasing Billy that his big sister will never get a date (or never get past the first date, more likely) because of her bad breath, which is not all that bizarre a storyline in advertising world...

The rhyme/ prose is odd, though. I'm guessing there might have been a tradition of photo/ comic stories with rhyming text (like the Rupert annuals in Britain) and that the 'science bits' are in prose to suggest that they're not fiction, but true?

[hannahsarah.livejournal.com]

The rhyme reminds me of Burma-shave ads. The not-rhyming would definitely imply "But seriously now, I'm a doctor and I'm going to give you the straight facts." SRS BZNZ!

[urbantravels.livejournal.com]

The boy is calling the woman "Du," so there's no way she's his mother.

[write-light.livejournal.com]

Well he could be right rude little shit, tired of getting beat up. ;D

[tree_and_leaf]

You call your mother Du in German, and have done for some time (certainly since well before that advert was published).

[murakozi.livejournal.com]

I had to read the translation twice. The first time, I thought Bill had a black eye because John hit him. I'm glad I was wrong.

[bzul.livejournal.com]

Well, zahnpasta is my new term of choice.

[siberian-cat.livejournal.com]

She is lucky to have chosen Colgate and not Duro 35, otherwise she would smell of alcohol. I doubt such a fine young gentleman as John would date an addict!

[hannahsarah.livejournal.com]

Or would he? The world may never know.