Saturday, June 24, 2006
Discourse on Smoking - Post 1
Let's do something interesting.
While browsing amongst the wonderful books of Kinokuniya, I came across this book which had American ads from the 40's and 50's. For each era they picked the most effective ad, and these are the ones for cigarettes that i used my handphone to snap. Lousy pics, i know. But at least they're legible. Here we can see why people smoked, and the concerns of that era (waay before lung cancer was a major concern) X_x .
The first is an ad by L&M. We see the most major concern: Tar. Tar is visible as a brownish substance trapped in the filters of a cigarette, and people knew that this stuff was going into their lungs. So what does L&M do? An excerpt reads: "Our new technology puts electromagnetically charged filters in each cigarette, adding to the number of fibres in the smoke's way." Yep. Trap more smoke, get more customers. Also, the star of TV serial Gunsmoke is seen endorsing the brand, which was a very conventional marketing method. Glamourise smoking, get more customers.
The second is a winning ad from Marlboro. We can see an entirely unorthodox marketing technique: CUTE BABIES! Awww... the text, kept short and simple, reads "Before you scold me, mom, maybe you'd better light up a Marlboro!" This ad won because of its ingenious (although perhaps a bit underhanded) use of an innocent infant to bring smoking all the way down to the most basic, family level: people smoke for relaxation, and not for glamour. This ad appeals to the masses, no doubt. But here we see another property: It targets women. Mothers! Marlboro probably saw the potential of getting the other half of the American population to pick up smoking. No more was smoking a 'manly', 'masculine' activity: the ladies could light up too!
This is the winning ad from the 40s, by Camel. Still existing today in exactly the same box artwork, its price has also survived through the generations. Back then it marketed its quality: "Costlier Tobaccos". Now Camel is still one of the most expensive brands, although it has mostly lost its widespread appeal (in Singapore at least), known as the 'uncle's brand'.
But that's not what's important about this ad. The text reads "More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette!" and this information was based on a survey! What could be safer than smoking the same brand that your physician smoked? Yep, Camel had an extremely effective strategy, even with the minimal artwork. Who cares about movie stars? We're all concerned about our health.
At the bottom right is a sort of 'test' to determine which brand one should prefer. Once again we see a decent, house-wifey woman pictured. And a very young one at that. A transparent "T" appears over her mouth, and this is the Taste Test. Apparently, Camel asked its customers to discern a cigarette's Taste, and see whether it made the Throat uncomfortable. Of course, the last sentence goes "You'll know that Camel is the brand for you."
Erkay. In summary, people in booming postwar America smoked because of (in order of priority):
1. Relaxation
2. Glamour
3. Taste of tobacco
And they were concerned about:
1. Tar getting into their system
2. How smooth a cigarette is when smoke is drawn through the filter
3. The 'roughness' of a cigarette on their throats (whether the smoke was stinging)
=)
jOhn thought at 4:26 AM
