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 are three European examples.
The first, for Våra Nöjens Praktalbum, seems to be an advertisement for an album of artistic prints, of which the image of Louise Brooks may or may not be an example. These limited edition prints measure 26 x 35 cm and are printed on heavy art paper. This ad appeared in a Swedish magazine Vapa Nöje in September, 1927.
The second example, an advertising postcard from Barcelona, Spain (circa 1930), is for Borotalco Ausonia, a talcum powder manufactured by Laboratorios Nike, S. A. Apparently, according to the text on the back, this postcard was number 10 in a series of Estrellas Cinematograficas, or cinema stars.
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| Borotalco Ausonia postcard front | Borotalco Ausonia postcard back |
This third example of a European product advertisement featuring Louise Brooks is for Babani, a Parisian maker of cosmetic sets which included face cream, face powder and perfume. This advertisement ran in Cinemonde in April, 1930. The caption below the actress’ portraits reads, “Louise Brooks la vedette de Prix de Beaute“, or “Louise Brooks the star of Prix de Beaute“.
