English 103 Blog

Tobacco Advertising

Thomas Jones

July 2012

Tobacco advertising is a very complex topic with many different angles and topics that can be discussed. There are many different things that affect the effectiveness of an advertisement. There are also many restrictions and laws in place that govern how tobacco products can be advertised.

One of the main reasons tobacco advertisements are restricted is that there is a legal age at which tobacco products can be purchased. There are also many health risk involved with use of tobacco products. In most states in a person must be at least eighteen years old to buy tobacco products. Some states even have laws that require people to be nineteen years old to buy tobacco products.

Cigarettes are one of the most common tobacco products that are used. There are countless different brands which all have different blends of tobacco and additives in them. Smokeless tobacco, like dip and chewing tobacco, also has many different brands that all have different strengths, taste, and textures to them. Depending on which type of tobacco, smoke or smokeless, is being sold, advertisements have different methods that are used. They target different ages and demographics and they have researched what the best methods for these advertisements are.

Tobacco used to be advertised all around. Tobacco companies purchased adds on the radio and television, they sponsored sporting events, and they even gave out free samples. By 1986 all tobacco advertisements for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco on television and radio were banned. [1] Since June of 2010, new laws regarding tobacco advertisements restrict companies from sponsoring sporting events and musical and cultural events. They are also banned from having their logos on clothing and other apparel. [2]

The effectiveness of tobacco advertisements is something that is hard to quantify. It is hard to determine if tobacco users start using tobacco because of an advertisement or because of other reasons such as friends, peer pressure, or a spur of the moment decision.

Advertising may not have as great of an effect on introducing users to tobacco as it does on brand selection. Stating that advertisements will increase user awareness to new brands, flavors, and types of tobacco would more than likely be correct. Different statements and slogans from tobacco advertisements are used to catch users attention and get them to switch to their brand. For example, Camel cigarettes had a slogan in the past that said “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette.”, and Pall Mall cigarettes said “Let your throat enjoy smooth smoking.”[3] Smokeless tobacco brands also use slogans in their adds. Skoal used the slogan, “A pinch better,” for a long time.

Pictures on tobacco advertisements also have an effect on viewers. Copenhagen smokeless tobacco frequently uses pictures of cowboys as seen in figure 1 and in figure 2 you see that Skoal is using a picture of two mountain bikers in an extreme setting. Pictures like these entice users to switch to their products by using their self image and trying to convince them that these products will help them identify with the people in these pictures. Basically its saying that if you want to be a real cowboy you will use Copenhagen and if you want to be like these two extreme mountain bikers than Skoal should be your brand of choice.

The visual rhetoric of tobacco advertisements is usually fairly clear. It is normally obvious what they are trying to communicate by the pictures and slogans used in the advertisement. In figure 3, you see “Joe Camel”, Camel cigarettes “mascot”, with sunglasses and stylish clothing giving off the appearance that he is a cool dude. This is an older add probably from about twenty years ago. What they were doing was convincing people that smoking Camel cigarettes would make them cool. The Ray Bans sunglasses and the sport coat with a t-shirt was part of the style in that era, and if you had the Camel cigarette in your mouth it completed your outfit. Figure 5 also shows Joe Camel. In this advertisement the camel is a muscular character wearing a t-shirt with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve sporting the same sunglasses and he is standing in front of a convertible. It contains the same message that Camel cigarettes will make you cool.

The Marlboro man is a classic tobacco advertisement. He is depicted as a cowboy, who appeals to viewers because cowboys are known to be rough, tough, true-blooded Americans that work hard every day. He is usually seen having a leathery looking face and wearing chaps and a cowboy hat, clothing that has been worn by working cowboys since the middle of the 19^th century. Figure 5 shows the Marlboro man wearing this attire along with a denim jacket, a lasso hanging from his knee, and a Marlboro cigarette in his mouth. It appears that he is reaching in his pocket for matches or a lighter to light his cigarette. Figure 6 shows a cowboy wearing close to the same clothing sitting on a fence lighting his Marlboro cigarette. The Marlboro man has been an icon in cigarette advertisements for many years because it was such a successful marketing ploy. Cowboys tamed the west, never backed down from a fight, and were either outlaws that rode the range and did whatever they wanted or they were noble men who always stood up for what was right and always did whatever they could to ensure that justice was done. Every kid at some point wants to be a cowboy, and most grown men dream of what life would be like if they were a cowboy. Cowboys usually fascinate women. They are tough men who ride horses and many females generally see that as romantic. Women do not dream of being swept off of their feet by an accountant, they dream of riding off into the sunset on a horse with a cowboy. This makes putting the Marlboro man on an advertisement work very well. Men see themselves being tougher and identifying with cowboys when they smoke Marlboros, and women see themselves as being more appealing to cowboys if they are smoking Marlboro cigarettes.

Smokeless tobacco companies such as Skoal also have advertising schemes that are affective. Figure 7 shows several people in a stadium watching a sporting event and cheering their favorite team on. It says “If your teams smokin’ but you cant...always there in a pinch.” It is stating that if you are in a stadium where smoking is not allowed you can still get your nicotine from a pinch of Skoal smokeless tobacco. Figure 8 is a good advertisement for men because it uses the sex approach to gain men’s attention. It says that dipping is better than smoking because while many people are outside smoking you can be dipping inside and still talking to women. It tries to convince you that dipping will give you a competitive edge on other men when you are in a bar trying to pick up women. Men are driven by sex and anything that will help a man find a suitable partner can usually be sold to men. The pursuit of sex drives men to succeed, purchase nice fashionable clothing, and do many things to impress women. While using tobacco may not impress women, if you are the only man still inside of a bar with women and all of the other men are outside smoking you have the upper hand. Skoal is one of the largest smokeless tobacco producers and while this advertisement is not necessarily saying that Skoal is the best brand to buy, it is saying that smokeless tobacco is a better choice than cigarettes. If people switch to smokeless tobacco there is a likely chance that they will use Skoal because of its popularity and large selection of flavors and cuts.

Copenhagen snuff, a popular brand and cut of smokeless tobacco, frequently uses cowboys in their adds as you see in figure 9. Figure 9 shows a cowboy, who is dirty and weathered looking from working, carrying a saddle. The slogan in this advertisement says that “Some men never compromise, they Cope.” Cope is a common name for Copenhagen and it also means to deal with whatever problems you have. In a way it is telling viewers that using Copenhagen will help make you tough enough that you will never have to compromise because you will be able to deal with whatever situation you are in. Figure 10 shows a cowboy on his horse in a blizzard carrying a lantern and a young calf that he is taking care of. It uses the same slogan as figure 9. Again, it is showing viewers that cowboys using Copenhagen are tough individuals and that by using Copenhagen you will also be as tough as the man in the picture. It has the same effect as the Marlboro man does by using the cowboy as its icon. In the western cattle states of the United States of America, Copenhagen is the most popular brand of smokeless tobacco that you will see. Many working cowboys and rodeo cowboys prefer Copenhagen snuff to other types of smokeless tobacco. Copenhagen also sponsors many rodeos all over the country, which is a highly effective form of advertising. They often use famous rodeo cowboys in their advertisements such as Ty Murray, the seven time champion all around cowboy. Figure 11 shows Ty Murray riding a bull, which is a very extreme sport that requires a large amount of skill and an immeasurable amount of grit and toughness. It has a quote from him that says, “The three priorities in my life are my horse, my rope, and my Copenhagen. But not necessarily in that order.” Once again this advertisement shows viewers that really tough people use Copenhagen.

Whether or not tobacco, cigarettes or smokeless tobacco, actually helps users identify with the people and icons in the advertisements is unknown and probably unlikely. Why people choose to use tobacco is hard to determine. All of the health risk involved with dipping and smoking should probably discourage people from every trying and getting addicted to tobacco products. However, there is a large market for tobacco products and despite all of the restrictions and limitations placed on advertising and promoting tobacco there are ways to successfully advertise it. What the major companies are doing is finding ways to make you think that using their product will improve your self-image. They want you to think that you will be cooler and more stylish, tougher and more able to deal with difficult situations, and more likely to find a sex partner if you use their brand.

Figure 1 [4]