Adams chewing gum ad, The Sphinx 1920
American University in Cairo, Rare Books and Special Collections Library. The Sphinx. RBSCL believes this item is in the public domain.
The pattern
This still is filed under Pack as storefront.
Define
The pack is the store. On a shelf or a thumbnail, it must stop, name, and close without a clerk.
Mechanism
Shelf rhetoric. Hierarchy, claim, and proof live on the face. The first five centimeters do the campaign's job.
Verdict
The buy happens in a glance among competitors: grocery, pharmacy, app store icon.
Why it works
The strip reads in one sweep: flavoured with ripe fruit juice, the brand in giant capitals, and sold everywhere at 1 piastre a packet. The flavour names sit in boxes at each end like packets on a counter, so a reader who meets them later at a kiosk already knows what to ask for and what it costs.
The big idea
One strip gives the name, four flavours, the price and "sold everywhere", so any reader can walk up to any kiosk and ask for Adams by name.
The offer
Adams Pure Chewing Gum in Black Jack, Sen-Sen, California Fruit and Pepsin flavours, sold everywhere at 1 piastre a packet.
The proof
The word "pure", the claim that it is flavoured with ripe fruit juice, and a CHICLE mark on each side of the name.
Lines from the ad
ADAMS PURE CHEWING GUMFLAVOURED WITH RIPE FRUIT JUICE.SOLD EVERYWHERE P.T. 1 PER PACKET.Steal this when
Use it when you sell a low-price item through many small outlets and need buyers to ask for it by name.
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