A Prescription for Health: (Pseudo)Scientific Advertising of Fruits and Vegetables in the Early 20th Century

Abstract

Our analysis of print advertising in the early twentieth century reveals that in an era of scientific discovery and therapeutic ethos, fruits and vegetables were advertised as medical tonics, with "prescriptions" that included recommended daily doses, to ward off or cure real or imagined medical ailments (flu, listlessness, acidosis). During this time of post-patent advertising fallout and the Truth in Advertising movement, we show how advertisers used scientific (and pseudoscientific) tactics to gain credibility while convincing women that careful attention to nutrition as a science was the way to achieve a happy and healthy family. We argue the national brands' and growers' associations within the advertising institution contributed to public knowledge and confusion about nutrition and foods in early medicalization of fruits and vegetables. This paper charts the history of advertising techniques in communicating health information via fruit and vegetable advertising and anticipates the implications of national advertising on nutrition education in society today.

“Welcome to pure food city”: tracing discourses of health in the promotional publications of the Postum Cereal Company, 1920-1925

“…As chief caregivers, mothers were a particular focus, seen as requiring expert advice to keep their families healthy (Apple, 2006). Baby food (Apple, 1987;Cesiri, 2022), breakfast cereals (Kideckel, 2018), fruit and vegetables (Nelson et al, 2020), "pure" foods (Toulin, 2014) andfollowing the discovery of vitaminsfortified foods (Apple, 1996) were all widely promoted as essential for good health. Even well-known brands like Coca-Cola and Heinz capitalised upon this interest, reframing their products as "good choices" for health-conscious consumers (Koehn, 1999;Lonier, 2010).…”

All that glistens is not (green) gold: historicising the contemporary chlorophyll fad through a multimodal analysis of Swedish marketing, 1950–1953

“…This absence is reflective of a more general dearth of literature on the historical link between science and food/cosmetics marketing, with most studies emphasising science in marketing as a product of the modern age (Jovanovic, 2014; Chen, 2015; Chen and Eriksson, 2021). Of the scant historical studies that exist, most concern patent medicines and vitamins (Apple, 1996; Hansen, 1999; Loeb, 2001; Curth, 2002), with little attention paid to food/cosmetics and how science is used to shape discourses, beliefs and behaviours around health and healthy lifestyles (for exceptions, see Nelson et al , 2020; Eriksson and O’Hagan, 2021).…”