Posts tagged with "print ad"



13. October 2023
1946 Shanghai magazine ad for Eng Aun Tong Tiger Balm. From the MOFBA collection.
This 1946 Shanghai magazine ad for Eng Aun Tong features a puzzling key visual - we certainly don't recommend using Tiger Balm as a sunscreen... The well-known heat rub was created in the 1870s by a Chinese herbalist in Burma. His sons took over the company in 1908 and developed it into a highly successful business empire which exported to China, Japan, and across Southeast Asia. In 1920 the headquarter was moved to Singapore where it continues to be manufactured to this day.
10. October 2022
A stunning Chinese “My Dear” post-war color ad from 1946 with a voluptuous brunette bombshell on the beach, modelled after the prevalent 1940s US pin-up style popularized for and by the G.I.’s overseas. From the MOFBA collection.
My Dear, or Měilì (美丽牌) meaning “beautiful” in Chinese, was the most popular Chinese cigarette brand out of Shanghai during Republican China. Since its inception it was famous for the attractive, confident and modern “new women” featured in its advertisements, ubiquitous across billboards, magazines and newspapers. Its Chinese slogan 有美皆备,无丽不臻 literally means “everyone wants the beauty because without beauty there is no completeness” but in more creative...