In many ways, this novel by H.G.Wells is way ahead of its time because it deals with a scurrilous advertising campaign. Tono-Bungay is a so-called medicinal product marketed as a cure-all. It is in fact just a drink with a nice taste, but advertising and marketing make it a phenomenal success. Wells uses this to examine the social mores surrounding this and the effects on the character of the man employed to sell it.