Leah
Nieman
English
101 – 5:30 pm – Ad Analysis Final
Sonia
Begert
11/4/15
Smoking Advertisements: Then and Now
A
single advertisement has the ability to persuade and change the mindset of the
people that view it. Most advertisements are based on facts, trying to convince
the public to buy a company’s product or the opposite, but are these facts
always reliable? Should we put our trust into them? In almost all ads, behind
the facts are hidden impressions or meanings. In this essay I will be comparing
two different smoking ads that are over half a century apart.
The first
ad is dated back to 1946 when it was published by the magazine Life, a popular magazine that would be
read by millions. The advertisement is split in half, with a picture above, and
an article below. The image that is featured above is a man in physicians
clothing, posed relaxed and leisurely smoking a Camel cigarette, looking as if he is taking a break in between
patients. The man has a kind look, almost grandfatherly, and gives you the
impression that the people being treated by this physician are in good hands. The
background is red, and there is a contrasting yellow text box next to the
physician saying, “The doctor is a
scientist, diplomat, and a friendly sympathetic human being all in one, no
matter how long and hard his schedule." This quote leaves the readers with
a feeling of safety, but that’s not all this quote is conveying. It is also
silently but directly pointing out that the Camel cigarettes are to
attribute to him staying “a friendly sympathetic human being” all throughout his
“long and hard” schedule.
Then
to confirm this direct but silent persuasion towards Camel cigarettes,
there is this large, shocking, and almost assumptive quote on the lower half of
the advertisement in bold capitalized letters, “According to a recent
Nationwide survey: More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette.”
Not only does this statement shock the audience, but it also gives a sense of
awe. An awe toward the product, and an awe that such important people like
doctors would choose Camel to be their priority cigarette. The public
then immediately start to affiliate health with smoking. This statement is then
followed by a short article about the nationwide survey and also displays an
open, alluring box of Camel cigarettes. At the bottom right corner there
is also a woman, smoking, with a large capitol T across her mouth. Then by her
it states, “Your T-zone will tell you…T for taste….T for throat,” signifying
that Camel cigarettes will stimulate your “T-zone”. Then at the very
bottom of the advertisement is the products key phrase, “Camels –
Costlier Tobaccos.”
During
the time of this advertisement, studies had just announced that smoking could
be linked with cancer. The public at this time were worried, and that is when Camel
took action. Camel decided to start marketing the “More doctors smoke Camel”
advertisements, hosting surveys at medical conventions. These advertisements
were to re-assure the public, showing them that people affiliated with health
were even smoking, and smoking a certain brand too! Through these ads Camel
was very successful, and benefited from them enormously.
The
next ad was published in the year 2005 by a media designer under the name “Katego”.
This ad went viral through the internet and social media, reaching countless
people. In the ad there is a pitch black background, giving the feel of danger,
darkness, and vulnerability. Then there are two hands and a gun. In one hand is
the gun, and the gun has cigarettes lodged in the cartridge impersonating
bullets. The other hand is inserting the cigarettes into the gun. This image is
powerful, for when the audience sees the gun they associate it with harm or
death. What causes the harm? In regular cases it would be bullets, but in this
image instead of there being bullets, cigarettes are placed in their stead.
As
if the image wouldn’t be impacting enough, there is then a list of golden
statements to the left of the gun, shining bright against the dark background.
The statements include all sorts of negative effects of smoking, saying that
smoking is the, “major cause of stroke” and how smoking, “may cause fatal heart
attacks, gum disease, and cancer.” And underneath the list and gun, there are
these profound words, “Smoking Kills…so why bother starting?”
This ad is to warn the public of
the effects of smoking, trying to disintegrate all motive to start. The advertisement
also has the ability to encourage the people who are trying to end smoking, reassuring
them that by quitting their habit it will be to their best benefit. After
viewing the ad, it leaves the audience a little shaken and with confirmation of
the danger of smoking.
After looking at these two ads,
it is very intriguing to see the difference and change in standards that had
taken place in just the last half century. Prior to the 1950s and even
extending farther, smoking was one of the most common habits of the public.
Smoking was considered a delicacy, and even associated you with high class. At
that time smoking was only promoted, even linking smoking to good health. It
wasn’t until the mid-1940s that there was even the studies or technology to
connect smoking with some of the health problems physicians started facing more
and more often. When studies then came back positive towards smoking being
related to health problems, there was mass fear. It was during this time when
cigarette companies like Camel came up with advertisements reassuring
the public of the health benefits of smoking, trying to keep their companies
afloat.
Now in our modern day society
smoking is looked upon as a harmful habit and something that you should try
your best to quit practicing. Most advertisements linked with smoking are
negative in our society today, like the one designed by “Katego”, for we now have
the technology to know that there are really no healthful benefits of the
habit. Smoking has now become rarer, and is now something people do to escape
the world and feel happy, or what teenagers and young adults do to establish a
feeling of independence. For the people who want to quit, there are now
programs and group therapy, encouraging people that they are going down the
right path.
Both these ads, though talking
about the same subject, are giving two different extremes. One is promoting the
health and commonality of smoking, and the other is revealing the harm and
negativity of the habit. The public seeing the advertisement in the 1940’s had
confidence that the people who were behind the publishing of the ad were
telling the truth or implying the truth, and that smoking really was a healthy
lifestyle. This is an example of how advertisements can be misleading, and maybe
not fully reliable, just so they can convince the public to purchase their
product. Now with the rise in technology and the information that we have
obtained, we can now look back and learn from history and be able to confirm
profound statements that are advertised, without being misled.
Works Cited:
“More Doctors Smoke Camels” Stanford
School of Medicine Web. Nov. 3 2015.
Katego’s “Smoking Kills Ad” Deviant
Art 2005 Web. Nov 3 2015.
