Advertisement is used everywhere today. We see it in magazines, on TV, newspapers, billboards, schools, and social media. Companies use ads to build people’s interest in buying a certain product. When creating advertisements companies use strategies such as fonts, actions, color, and stereotypes, culture views to appeal to the audience’s eye in hopes of drawing in the suggested audience.
Lifetime magazine was in circulation for 1936 to 1972 weekly and was a household name. People of all ages were exposed to this magazine that targeted imaginary over words. You would think cigarette ads would target age appropriate individuals , but they target children as well. This ad shows two adult having a great time together as they are smoking cigarettes. Children don’t realize that this was bad for your health. They just associated smoking with a good time. Children watch or see advertisements and don’t realized that it is not normal to have an option about an unhealthy habit at their age.
Newport cigarettes were made known by Lorillard Tobacco Company of Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Lorillard Tobacco Company was founded in 1760. It was the oldest tobacco company in the United States. Lorillard originally made pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, cigars, and snuff. Before 1969 Newport was an all white filter cigarette. The cigarette came from Ireland and was made for mainly male drinkers at that time. “In the mid-1980s, Newport began an advertising campaign that targeted African Americans in urban areas. In two years, Newport became the fifth most popular cigarette on the market. Newport is now the second best-selling cigarette brand in the United States since 1996, trailing only Altria’s Marlboro brand” (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company).
During this time, the civil rights movement was still into play. This ad portrays both man and women to be high-class white people. Currently, Newport cigarettes are stereotyped to be targeted towards African Americans. Back then it wasn’t normal to have African Americans in presitjuics advertisements. In the year of 1964 Budweiser released the first ad with African Americans in the ad. “Historically, the tobacco industry’s attempts to maintain a positive image among African Americans have included such efforts as supporting cultural events and making contributions to minority higher education institutions, elected officials, civic and community organizations, and scholarship programs. Tobacco companies have historically placed larger amounts of advertising in African American publications, exposing African Americans to more cigarette ads than Whites “(Complete Report). “African Americans are 11 times more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes than Whites, with the highest rates of menthol smoking among African American youth aged 12-17. Despite starting smoking later and smoking fewer packs per day, African American menthol smokers successfully quit at a lower rate than non-menthol smoking African Americans”(Matekuare).
This cigarette advertisement is made by Newport on March 9th, 1962, Lifetime magazine (Fig. 1). In this ad, it shows a man and woman floating on a little white sailboat, with the background of a fresh clear aqua blue lagoon. The man and women are both sitting alongside the boat smoking a Newport cigarette, as the lady is laughing and showing enjoyment. The man has a cigarette in his mouth you can still see enjoyment by facial expressions and body language. She is hanging her legs over one side into the sailboat while letting small white waves crash along the side of her leg. The man sits on the other side of the sailboat to evenly dispute the picture. There appears to only be two cigarette packages. Both packages are the same. There is one larger Newport cigarette package that levitates over the small sailboat and blue lagoon towards the bottom right of the advertisement. They other cigarette packages the lady is holding in her hand justifying that she will most likely have another. In this the cigarette package appears as the 20 class A cigarettes, with the Newport logo known as the “spinnaker”, and Newport and the logo are both big and white. In this ad, both man and women appear to be white couple. The couple was dressed to target an carefree and cheerful audience with high class, wealth, and sophistication that smoke, do not smoke, and/or were just influenced to smoke. Fashion began to change in the 1960’s due to post-war. “High-class women wore the typically Chanel jacket with a tight short fighting dress or skirt. Usually, women had short hair and wore some accessories like hats and jewelry. During this time, men typically wore dress pants or shorts and a collared shirt. They were clean cut and shaven”(Ortisi). In the 1960’s a sailboat was viewed as very prestigio. It was a trend in the 1960’s for people to want to sail boating. Not only did Newport advertisements use sailboats to sell products, but Camel cigarettes, alcohol ads, vacation ads, and sea tours all did as well.
The setting on this ad includes a forest of tree setting along a bright blue sky. In the Newport ad, they use vibrate color schemes to target the audience. This ad color consists of a vibrant blue, green and white. “The [colour] SIC blue tends to convey a feeling of honesty and dependability, so it would be a good choice if a brand has a particular need for trust. The [colour] SIC a symbol of freshness and health. Consumers are more health conscious than ever these days, so green is suitable for many advertising campaigns. This colour can also be used to promote products or services that are environmentally friendly.” (Understanding). I feel the goal of this advertisement was to portray refreshment.
The text at the bottom of the advertisement is trying to tell the targeted audience that Newport is the only cigarette that is going to give you the cool, relaxed, refreshing, and enjoyment feeling because of the menthol in the cigarette. Shown by the action of the man and women in the ad. Newport uses this advertisement in a refreshing way to target the audience of not only people that smoke cigarettes but people that enjoy refreshment. On the ad itself, in the larger white letter, it says “Newport refreshes while you smoke”. This ad is saying no need for mints when you have fresh menthol cigarettes to smoke.
Cigarette advertisement used to be made for TV and radio. Cartoons and doctors were used to help sell the cigarettes in the ad. “ Following the release of the Surgeon General’s report on smoking and health in 1964, pressure slowly grew to limit how and where Big Tobacco could advertise” (Truth Initiative). In 1967 they created a doctrine stating that the ad had to include disclaimers. Four years later cigarette ads were banned on TV and the radio. Ads still ran on billboards, transits, and newspaper. In 1998, “The Master Settlement Agreement, which was the result of civil litigation brought by 46 U.S. states, D.C. and five territories against the major U.S. tobacco companies, imposed more restrictions on those companies.” (Truth Initiative). “New rules included bans on transit and billboard advertisements, paid brand product placement, cartoons, tobacco brand sponsorships of sporting events and concerts, as well as advertising and marketing practices that targeted individuals under 18.” (Truth Initiative). In 2009, “The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which granted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate tobacco products, included the authority to regulate some of the industry’s marketing practices. The act banned the use of vending machines and product sampling (except in adult-only facilities), and it restricted the sale of tobacco in retail establishments to face-to-face transactions between retailers and consumers. It also expanded the existing limits on tobacco brand sponsorships and tobacco branding of non-tobacco items.” (Truth Initiative). Now all the stipulations on ads make it hard for cigarettes companies to advertise like other companies. They have to use creative advertising in which to put there product out there to be known.
The importance of this cigarette ad or any ad is to increase sales, help producers or companies to know their competition, makes ground for the product if its new, gains customer loyalty, and the demand of the product. This ad does all that with color, text, civil rights, children exposure, and the band of cigarette advertisement.
