This ad was created in 1950s, promoting the
healthy cigarette myth. The man in the ad with suit and tie is
obviously trying to portray that more professionals now smoke Kent.
I assume that they are trying to relate professionals and smoking (bold
and large font stating "more scientists and educators smoke Kent with
micronite filter"). Like Mrs. Cary have in her blog about the football advertisement,
this ads try to imply that cigarettes could make a person look more intelligent
and sharp, which is outrageously deceptive - Kent contained crocidolite
asebestos, which is one of the deadliest forms of the fibrous mineral.
Then they go way over the bottom by adding, "For good smoking
taste, it makes good sense to smoke KENT" to suggest that smoking
cigarette is a good sense and it taste good. The skyscraper at the back
delineate that the man in the ads is somewhat of a high salary manager and his
facial expression suggest that if anyone wants to make big money and sharp as
he is then they have to smoke Kent.
This is definitely a transformational advertisement, trying to
make the people feel like the man in the ad if they smoke Kent. The cigarette company
hopes that medium and high-income male worker will somehow make the connection
that smoking will make them intelligent and look wealthy. The small font
of "than any other cigarette!" also shows that Kent is the best
cigarette in the market if anyone wants to smoke. Although for nonsmoker
this ad might be stupid and fallacious, the real danger is for adults or maybe
teenager that doesn't know about fibrous filter.
This ad is defiantly geared toward people in the professional field. I don't believe cigarettes make you look a certain way and if they did it would make them look stupid for wanting to slowly kill their selves. If someone one does want to look smart they will know that this ad is just a product that will do the opposite.
ReplyDeletei really like the fact that you looked up and found the stats on filtered cigarettes
ReplyDeleteI agree with Zack. Good job on providing the real scientific information. This points out that ads can (still) misstate scientific facts and make up stuff to their advantage. As ridiculous as this ad seems now, the image of powerful businessmen smoking cigarettes was very strong for a long time. So this brand is trying to appeal to logic and image all at once. And it probably worked back then. Thanks for your in-depth analysis.
ReplyDelete