Like the celebrities of today, Louise Brooks’ name and image was used in a number of advertisements and advertising campaigns. Beginning in 1926 with the “Louise Brooks Evening Gown” and running through the LUX soap campaigns of the late 1920s and early 1930s, Brooks’ name, image and likeness was used to sell all manner of products and consumer goods — not only in the United States, but also elsewhere around the world. Here is one example, from Asia.
In the late 1920s, Louise Brooks enjoyed a great popularity in Japan, due in part to those films in which she played a modan gāru, or modern girl. Brooks’ role in The Canary Murder Case as a free-spirited, stylish showgirl drew added attention to the film, as did her costume, which was a bit more revealing than usual for the time. As a result, the film and the actress were heavily promoted to Japanese cinema-goers — as evidenced below. Shown below is a two page spread from a Japanese magazine, a 1929 issue of Shochikuza News. On the left is a page about The Canary Murder Case, and on the right is a page featuring a soap advertisement which includes Louise Brooks. That much I can tell. However, since I don’t read Japanese, I can’t say which brand of soap is represented on the page. Is it LUX? If you read Japanese and can provide further details, I would be very grateful.
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Just how popular was Louise Brooks around the time this advertisement appeared? The magazine clipping shown below claims The Canary Murder Case was “one of the most successful” films ever shown in Japan. And apparently, movie-goers lined up around the block in Tokyo to attend showings of the film. It’s not surprising that the American actress was singled out in order to appear in advertisements — even in Japan. [A handful of Japanese magazine covers from the time, each featuring Louise Brooks, can be found can be found on Louise Brooks — Asian Magazine Covers.
