George Shearing for the Better Vision Institute

[Life, October 15, 1965. Click for a larger view.]

Coming after advertisements for cigarettes (Salem), auto insurance (MIC), coffee (Yuban), and motels (TraveLodge), this page from the Better Vision Institute must have startled Life’s readers. My transcription:

When I heard there’s a campaign to get people to have their eyes examined regularly, I thought maybe I could drive this idea home by writing about it myself (with Mrs Shearing’s help).

Really it should be a law, not just an idea. Seeing is one thing that shouldn’t be left to chance. I know, I never had the chance.

But I have some idea of what I’ve missed. My career as a pianist has taken me to many countries. Judging from the sounds and smells, it must be an unbelievably exciting world to see. I’m not suggesting you’ll go blind because you don’t have your eyes examined. The chances are small but why take the chance? But where a person like me would be grateful to see at all, a person like you has a choice. You can assume your eyesight is all right. Or you can learn through examination that you might be seeing a lot better. I know what I’d do if I had the choice.

George Shearing (1919–2011) was a British pianist and the composer of “Lullaby of Birdland.” There’s a website devoted to his work.