Cigarette Advertising Essay example -- Marketing Tobacco

Truth About Cigarette AdvertisingTwo lithe, tanned bodies lazily languish near a limpid river. The heads of the two persons are propel back in poses of a supremely confident nature. Their facial features, though, are indistinguishable amidst the ephemeral haze which envelops them. Curiosity piqued and intently surveying the scene, one then notices the cigarettes dangling from the fingers of the pair. Advertisements such as this are now ubiquitous to the point of annoyance. These attempts to entice consumers to buy cigarettes are not simply trumped up exaggerations, as is the vitrine with other overlaps. Cigarette companies market their products with blatant lies. No one is shown with yellowed teeth or suffering from a hacking cough. Instead, smokers are always pictured as being in the pink of health. More alarmingly, smokers and smoking are perceived as being desirable. This perception has seemingly permeated every facet of popular culture. The drear truth today iscigarettes are coolMore overt instances of cigarette companies attempting to marry their products with images having positive connotations occurred in the first half of the twentieth century. Since then, however, the marketing juggernauts of these organizations project become more adept at promoting their brands in nearly every sphere of public life. In the earlier times though, the principal mode of product placement was via magazines. Here are two such magazine advertisements. Kool magazine advertisement circa 1940 Camels magazine advertisement circa 1950In the first picture, which was put out during the bit World War, cigarettes are linked with the badges of the United States Armed Forces. Here, Kool attempts to ride the wave of support for Americ... ...gturning all of us into potential cigarette addicts. I am of the firm opinion that legislature should be passed which prevents these companies from advertising in certain fields, particularly those pertaining to healthy pursuits such as spo rts. But, then again, these laws would have to be passed by many people who sit on the boards of, or had election campaigns funded by, cigarette companies. Those changes dont seem too likely, do they?Works CitedCigarettes Wikipedia Foundation Inc.1 Sep. 2006. Crary, David. tobacco plant giants wage fight against state anti-smoking measures. Associated Press 13 Oct. 2006Haralambos, Michael. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. London HarperCollins, 1991.Nocera, Joe. If Its Good for Philip Morris, Can It Also Be Good for Public Health? impertinent York Times 18 June. 2006 B46.