Old Print Ad: Bantron Smoking Deterrent Tablets

The chin strap interferes with my smoking.

The chin strap interferes with my smoking.

From a March 1968 copy of Life magazine comes this print ad for a smoking-deterrent tablet called Bantron. The spokesperson in the ad is former New York Giants quarterback Y.A. Tittle. From Tittle’s testimonial:

“After my doctor advised me to stop smoking I made many starts–with no success. Just as I needed help on the football field, I found that desire, alone, wasn’t enough to stop smoking. Then Bantron was recommended to me by a friend. Bantron did the job! I stopped smoking completely in 5 days and I’m proud to say I haven’t smoked in well over a year. It’s like quarterbacking my team to a championship. It’s a real accomplishment.”

Bantron, which featured the active ingredient lobeline sulphate, was passed many times from one company to another into the 1980s and is no longer manufactured.

Tittle, who was the subject of perhaps the most famous photo in football history, was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. He is 83 years old today and was honored earlier this year by LSU, his alma mater.

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