Fat Boys Must Wear Playkings

None other than legendary Golden Age artist Mort Meskin was called into drawing this ad which was part-comic strip to sell the junior athletic belt branded Playking. The Ward Green Co. specialized in sports undergarments such as the Figure Slimmer for men or the Compreso Belt for women, but their Playking model was designed for boys and a particular advertisement that ran in some comics was intended to fat shame overweight youngsters into buying their stuff. The 5-panel strip stars a portly lad referred to as Tubby as he loses a game for his baseball team with a pair of girls in the audience laughingly compare him to a bowl of jelly as he runs. Afterwards, Tubby heads to the locker room where his teammates start remarking on his physique like they're salesmen landing you their latest pitch and tell him he should try on a pair of Playking because its "action-ized" construction make you look thinner whether you're playing ball or not. The last panel shows the boy formally known as Tubby now looking thinner and running faster since he started using Playking, although what the kids call him now is never stated, possibly Bizarro-Tubby. This isn't the worst approach to selling a product intended to help your posture and assist your performance as an athlete, but the Playking ad goes the extra mile to emphasize the need to appear thin and how it effects your social status. At least you get a 10-day trial offer which allows you to send the Playking back, although what the Ward Green Co. did with the now worn-in underwear is too creepy to consider, even with a detachable crotch!