“we have got the Maxim gun, and they have not.” (H.Belloc)

This advertisement was the first of Ogden’s Illustrated London News campaign forays into matters military to sell their cigarettes. Replacing the simpler, more cartoon approach previously adopted, it represented a graphical upgrade.  However, the signature pun has survived, as has the dominant “OGDEN’S” with slightly smaller product reference. The emphasis on British manufacture and labour is a recurrent theme.

Ironically Hiram Maxim was busy developing smokeless powder, following Vielle’s innovation of 1884. His 1914 quote “The smoking of tobacco can do no one any good” suggests he would not have sanctioned Ogden’s advert, although as a showman and relentless promoter of his many inventions, he may well have adopted the maxim there’s no such thing as bad publicity