Amazing World Trade Centre ad.

This is a genuine advert that ran in the US of A in the 1970s.
I know it’s easy to read into things with hindsight and all that, but still, the copy in this ad is almost prophetic.

Asbestos - big claims for such a dangerous product

I’ve reproduced the copy below, just in case you can’t read it in the image.

“The bigger the building, the more important fire-proofing becomes.
That’s why today’s buildings have asbestos-cement walls and even floors containing asbestos.
Asbestos contains fire, cannot burn and holds up after metal and glass have melted down, giving vital time for people to escape.
You’ll also find asbestos sealing plumbing joints, insulating heating pipes, electric motors and emergency generators.
Asbestos. We couldn’t live the way we do without it.”

It seems almost unbelievable that this ad was written before Sept 11th. There are a number of lines that seem ironic in the extreme.
“…and holds up after metal and glass have melted down, giving vital time for people to escape.”
And the sign-off line at the bottom “When life depends on it, you use asbestos.”

Asbestos, for all the harm it does, it a pretty interesting fibre. It’s been known since the time of the ancient Greeks. Their kings used it as a sort of magic cape that they could place into the fire and then put back on without and harm coming to the garment. They, unfortunately, didn’t discover that whilst it’s good at resisting fire it’s also first-class at destroying lungs. Learn more about the good and the bad by visiting Wikipedia here.