Lucky strikes offer me not only real delight, but the ever present assurance that they are a throat protection. I smoke all I choose now with never a worry.
American bass-baritone opera singer, Clarence Whitehill (1871-1932) claims that Lucky Strike cigarettes provide him with “the ever-present assurance that they are a throat protection.” This was an ironic claim for a singer criticized for his inconsistency; he reportedly suffered from a long-term throat ailment which caused sensitivity in one of his vocal cords, resulting in a hoarse quality in his voice. Whitehill began his stage career abroad, but eventually made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1909 and continued singing for the Met until his death in 1932, only six years after this ad was printed. This ad and the others in the Metropolitan Opera series of Lucky Strike ads lead consumers to believe that opera singers are puffing on cigarettes between acts while maintaining perfect voices.
