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“Adverts persuade people to consume some commodity or other. They also have a social and cultural function; creating and reproducing social and cultural identities� (Barnard, 2005, p77). The central aim of cigarette advertising was to make the audience consider smoking to be an ordinary part of everyday life and it has been proven to play a far greater role than peer pressure in the recruitment of fresh smokers.

Cigarette advertising in particular, offers a unique challenge in that strives to promote inherently useless, meaningless items with little to no value.

Contributing considerably to this challenge, are the hazardous and detrimental health affects, cigarettes have been publicly known to possess since 1952 (when an article in Readers Digest called Cartons by the Dozen offered its readers the first conclusive evidence on the subject).

This essay will examine two very different ways (traditional and surrealist) in which cigarettes were marketed and advertised in the 20th century. In order to both illustrate and contextualise the key differences between the two, it is advantageous to throughly examine each technique independently, before carrying out a comparison. This will be carried out via case

studies of two specific cigarette advertisements.

The essay will then establish which of the two was the most effective approach to advertising cigarettes. The first advert it will look at is the traditional Marlboro Man “The filter doesn’t get between you and the flavour” advert, produced

by Leo Burnett in 1955. The second is the surrealist Tailor’s Dummy advert, produced by Collett Dickenson Pearce, for Benson & Hedges in 1989.

There were four traditional advertising techniques by which cigarettes were both marketed and promoted to a predominately young male audience. The four ways were as follows; as a symbol of initiation through which independence is successfully attained, as a substitute for the female nipple, as irrefutable evidence of sociability and last but not least, as a hallmark of phallic power (Jobling and Crowley, 1996, p258). The Marlboro Man “The filter doesn’t get in the way of the flavour” advert takes advantage of the first of the aforementioned traditional advertising techniques. Marlboro was traditionally speaking, a brand of cigarettes aimed largely at female consumers. At the time, the section of paper concealing the cigarette filter

was red. This particular feature was marketed as beauty tip, the purpose of which was to conceal the traces of lipstick. Leo Burnett was faced with the undeniable challenge of converting Marlboro from a primarily female focused brand to principally male focussed brand. The first stage of this process saw the transformation from the old packaging to the widely recognised red, white and black flip-top packaging the brand still uses to this day. This was shortly followed by the arrival of the very first Marlboro Man advertisement in 1955, which abided by the Inherent Drama advertising theory devised by Burnett himself. This theory concerns itself with an intrinsic value that lies within the product or in other words “the thing about that product that keeps it in the market place‌capturing that, and then taking that thing - whatever it is - and making the thing itself arrestingâ€? (Sivulka, 2012, p233). The intrinsic quality that Burnett found hidden within the cigarette brand was both an association and link to a perceived golden era in North American history. In connecting the cigarette brand with the image of a cowboy, he created a range of positive associations for the brand in the mind of the consumer. The public perception of the historical cowboys lifestyle is

one of freedom and excitement. Looking back at an era of history creates powerful nostalgia and a patriotic attachment to the brand. However, the most powerful association the brand created was with the symbolic masculinity of the cowboy.

This is supported by the following extract from Soap, Sex and Cigarettes: A Cultural History of American Advertising; “Cowboys symbolised the most masculine type of man, and Burnett’s ads evoked memorable imagery of real men in a man’s world” (Sivulka, 2012, p235). The nature in which cigarettes are consumed, both publicly and privately means that associations with the brand are transferred across to the consumer of the product. In this way, the masculinity of the cowboy association with the brand of cigarettes, a product that means nothing on it’s own, has given both the cigarette and the person smoking it individual masculinity.

The introduction of restrictions on advertising regarding the promotion of cigarettes, meant that newfangled, surrealist advertising techniques had to come into play. The restrictions meant health warnings needed to be placed on all promotional materials, including cigarette packaging and advertisements. The restrictions

also meant that advertisers and marketers were unable to promote cigarettes in the four traditional methods discussed in the previous paragraph. The surrealist advertising techniques will be exemplified and explored through the Tailor’s Dummy, an advert produced by Collett Dickenson Pearce in 1989 as part of the Pure Gold campaign for Benson & Hedges. This particular advert has been chosen because it benefits greatly from the use of surrealist image techniques. Andre Breton, a leading figure and pioneer in the surrealist movement has said the core idea at the heart of surrealist imagery is that, “beauty should be convulsive” (Jobling and Crowley, 1996, p258). The meaning of convulsive beauty is that the relationships between elements need to be subjective in order to create multiple connections and connotations in the mind of the audience. There are three main methods used in achieving convulsive beauty: the first technique is veiled erotic, fixed explosion or circumstantial magic. The first two of these methods do not concern the techniques used

by Collett Dickenson Pearce in the production of the Tailor’s Dummy advert. The technique used in the advert is that of circumstantial magic, a subjective approach to image making,

involving the juxtaposition of two disconnected images combine to create a unique meaning in the mind of the audience. This method of surrealist imagery is very powerful, as Judith Williamson states, “In surrealist pictures, we assume a logic of connection between things simply because they are presented as connected�

(Williamson, 2002, p134). The Tailor’s Dummy uses disconnected imagery and unsettling imagery to evoke powerful interpretations by the audience when linking the meanings of the elements within the advert. The imagery used within the advertisement has sexual undertones, with the advert not wanting to show the mere pleasure of smoking cigarettes, but rather the pleasure of sexual intercourse or sexual bliss. The very act of smoking a cigarette has been linked with seeking sexual desire, being seen as an invitation to, or a chaser of sex. At times smoking a cigarette can be seen as a replacement of the act of sexual intercourse entirely. With this in mind the imagery used within the Benson & Hedges advert contains imagery that is a much darker interpretation of sexual bliss. The advert depicts a room full of undressed female mannequin torsos.

One of the mannequins is distorted to a cigarette packet, this, and the shadow of a breast cast

upon the cigarette packet both act to feminise the cigarettes and thus sexualises the product.

There is a darker side to the advert, with danger introduced via the tuxedo clad mannequin lurking in the background. The masculinised mannequin acts as a disruptive, dark force within the advert when placed behind the feminised mannequins. These elements, when combined with the stark lighting and claustrophobic, shallow space creates the tension, which gives the advert the sexual undertones. The gold fabric, embroidered with the Benson & Hedges logo placed in front of the mannequins associates the brand with luxury, thus as a luxurious, aspirational product to own and consume. An important part of the adverts ability to keep the elements disconnected is the lack of body copy, it is claimed that the Tailor’s Dummy advert is the most open to interpretation of any of the Pure Gold campaigns produced by Benson & Hedges.

However, there can be somewhat of a cynical style-raiding of surrealist imagery happening in this advert, this is different than creating images based on the true principles of the surrealist movement. Or, as Frederic Jameson refers to the Pure Gold campaign as, “Surrealism without the subconscious� (Jobling and Crowley, 1996, p264).

There is one other way that the surrealist imagery of these adverts would appeal to the audience.

The undeniable link between surrealist imagery and the high/fine arts creates and additional connotation of intelligence with the cigarette and thus the consumer of the cigarette.

In order to establish which of the two is the most successful, a comparison of the traditional Marlboro Man “The filter doesn’t get in the way of the flavour” advert and the surrealist Benson & Hedges Tailor’s Dummy advert must take place.

The specific focus will be on how the techniques compare when trying to communicate a defined brand message to the audience. Both adverts have one commonality between them, they target their brand message towards a primarily male audience. That is where the similarities between the adverts ends, the Benson & Hedges adverts sells the cigarettes by using highly sexualised and surreal imagery, whereas the Marlboro campaign implements an image of a traditional cowboy to sell the cigarettes through a link/association with masculinity. The Marlboro Man advert preceded the the legislative restriction placed on the advertising and promotion of imposed on the cigarette industry during the 1970s. This allowed

for the advertiser to devise a specific message aimed at a specific audience, created solid, objective relationships between the product, and the images used in the advertisers, in the example of Marlboro this relationship was achieved by associating the product with the image of a heroic, masculine cowboy. This direct connection between the image, copy which all work together to reinforce the masculine image the brand wants to communicate to their audience. This level of specificity of message was close to impossible to achieve with the surrealist technique used to subvert the advertising restrictions which were introduced during the 1970s. Within the Tailor’s Dummy advert the lack of body copy, and requirement for the imagery to be ambiguous and have subjective meaning reduces the ease in which a specific message can be marketed to a specific age audience. The image has plurality of meaning and in this way, the perception of the brand by the public is harder to predict. and thus harder to engrain on the conscious of a society.

Looking at the adverts in such a way which acts to compare them purely on the advertising techniques used to promote the smoking of cigarettes would be to underestimate the effect

a cultural climate has on how adverts are interpreted by the public. This paragraph will look toward realising the varying contexts these two adverts were released into and how this context dictated the audiences reaction to them.

The two adverts being compared, the Marlboro Man “The filter doesn’t get between you and the flavour” and the Benson & Hedges Tailor’s Dummy advert were released in to very different cultural contexts. This is not only because one of the adverts featured in Britain, and the other in America, but also that the adverts came to life on each side of a cultural revolution. The first advert being looked at is the Marlboro Man advert, a campaign that found itself faced with a post war American audience, 10 years from World War 2 and 2 years removed from the Korean War. The Marlboro therefore, gave the American audience a figure who symbolises masculinity, calmness, courage, integrity. These are qualities that are positive at all times, but no more so than in the tumultuous society this advert was released in to. The connection between cowboys, and the warfare underwent with the Native Indians cannot be underestimated in these adverts, a link to victorious wars of the past and the strength of America as a country, as well as it’s

men impart a deeply patriotic undertone to the advert. With this in mind it wouldn’t be too far a stretch to have the cowboy be a symbolic representation of a war hero when placed within the cultural context of the time. The link between the Marlboro Man and that of the American military does not only lie in the distant past.

The tattoo seen on his right hand can be seen as a signifier to a military past. The tattoo being one of an anchor could realistically create a link between the Marlboro Man and a past in the Navy Seals, this solidifies the character of the Marlboro Man as the most masculine of men in the post-war America on the 1950’s, with this affiliation being past on to the consumer of the Marlboro cigarette. The Benson & Hedges Tailor’s Dummy advert was released in to a 1989 British culture extremely different to that of the American culture in 1955. One, when looked at more closely could explain the choice of imagery chosen by Collett Dickenson Pearce when producing the advert. The contrast in British culture at the time of extreme excesses in wealth, when combined with the fear of the AIDs virus can be seen in the Benson & Hedges advert. The sexualised mannequins and cigarette packet, being stalked by the dark, sinister, threatening

force of the tuxedo clad mannequin could be seen to represent the AIDs virus. A threatening disease lurking in the shadows and destroying the lives of many British people at that time.

The excessive wealth of the time is represented in the depiction of the gold fabric, embroidered with the Benson & Hedges logo. Not only does this serve as a connector between the brand and that of gold, a luxury item, but that of a welcome distraction from the danger of AIDs, juxtaposing the two extreme aspects of society at the time, excess and fear.

Overall, both methods of marketing and advertising cigarettes have their benefits and drawbacks, the traditional techniques of marketing cigarettes prove to be the most effective in engraining a brand message of the psyche of a nation and group of potential consumers. The reasons for this conclusion are as follows: Traditional advertising methods allows for a much more in depth, and targeted message.

As shown with the Marlboro Man advert, the use of a cowboy has many positive associations which are transferred across to the consumer of the product. The lack of restrictions surrounding cigarette advertising at the time of Marlboro Man

advert allowed for the advert imply increased masculinity through the smoking of Marlboro cigarettes. Something the Benson & Hedges campaign could not directly imply in their Pure Gold adverts which came after the advertising restrictions. The social context the adverts were placed in has a substantial affect how effective the message communicated to the audience was, however, the directness of imagery at the disposal of advertisers before restrictions were imposed allowed for the traditional means of advertising to plunge deeper into the subconscious mind of the potential consumer. No more obvious is this than with the Marlboro Man and the war hero connotations so shortly after America had left war themselves. The traditional methods used to advertise and promote the smoking of cigarettes was more advantageous way of targeting a specific target audience to communicate to. The Marlboro Man adverts are clearly targeted at a adolescent male audience, where the audience for the Tailor’s Dummy advert is harder to define.

As a pure marketing tool, being able to target a specific audience allows for the campaign to have a greater impact on sales of a product.

The combined outcomes of being able to focus a campaign and brand message at a specific

audience with a specific message allows for a campaign to be engrained in the subconscious of potential consumers, and in the case of Marlboro Man, on popular culture way beyond the advertising campaign is over. It is this overall increased impact targeted cigarettes adverts have on the cultural landscape which make them more effective than those adverts produced after advertising restrictions were imposed on cigarettes. The Marlboro Man advert was able to have a long lasting, even permanent impact as, it not only aligned smoking Marlboro cigarettes with being more masculine, but with being more American as well. A message so powerful and meaningful to the audience, the advert by Benson & Hedges was incapable of matching the meaning using surrealist imagery.