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Dialogues@RU is published
annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume 4
Fall 2005
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: Advertising and the Tobacco Industry - Page 5
By Monica Yung
Although the tobacco companies utilize different ploys to induce women to take up smoking, many of their advertisements have been designed to appeal to the male population, using the internal control of media messages to associate their products with activities and qualities that appeal to men. This approach is exemplified by the beer companies that enlist the cultural attraction of sports to affect the value and social meaning of their product (Scott 87). Since most men enjoy sports, industries such as beer and cigarettes link their products with these masculine activities and American traditions. "Beer is advertised with sports, as sports, and during sporting events" Scott explains. "Through time and repetition, beer is perceived with the positive feeling of sports so that Americans grow to associate the two, combining the appeal of both" (87). Repetition of the association makes Americans unconsciously relate two inherently different activities, so that beer and sports ultimately become inseparable, which makes beer socially acceptable and causes Americans to forget its deleterious effects. The tobacco companies also use men's love of sports in their cigarette advertisements in order to establish the social acceptance of its inherently harmful products. In Larry White's Merchants of Death , the author remarks that:
[u]sing sports to promote products is extremely effective in selling to young men, including teenagers . . . United States Tobacco has consistently increased its snuff sales by hiring football players, race car drivers, and soccer stars . . . Cigarette billboards are clearly visible in stadiums across the country. (125)
It is ironic that football players, race-car drivers, and soccer stars who typically exemplify physical stamina and peak health are hired to promote products which cause adverse effects on the body. However, many fail to realize the paradox because the associations have been so ingrained in Americans' minds. The use of the cultural appeal of sports to promote the sale and acceptance of cigarettes overtly parallels the strategy of the beer corporations. The tobacco industries advertise their products in connection with sports so that the product will evoke the same positive emotions of fun and excitement that sports generate. In The Smoke Ring , Peter Taylor claims that "[s]ponsorship [of sports] enables the companies to associate cigarettes with health, glamorous and life-enhancing activities . . . it gives them access to prestigious and powerful people and institutions involved in sports" (99). Although it is generally accepted that sports sponsorship promotes cigarette consumption, critic Hugh High disagrees, claiming that "it cannot be argued that tobacco companies sponsor events or license non-tobacco products for the purpose of promoting increased consumption of tobacco in general . . . at most it can be argued that tobacco company promotions are attempts to promote its own brand" (89). However, despite the fact that High claims that sponsorship may only promote brand allegiance, it is evident that the association with sports is a crucial form of advertising for cigarette companies, whether it promotes general consumption of specific brand loyalty.
Cigarette companies have also traditionally appealed to a masculine sense of dominance and independence. In Smokescreen , Hilt asserts that "people don't start smoking to satisfy a not-yet-realized craving for nicotine. Rather men appear to start to smoke for purely psychological reasons ¾ to emulate a valued image, to experiment, to defy, to be daring, to have something to do with his hands, and the like" (73). Tobacco industries realize this inherent desire in men and thus present their products to represent "adventure, rebellion, and strength." The familiar Marlboro cowboy represents masculinity, strength, independence and skill. One well-known advertisement showed the cowboy preparing to lasso a steer, a task that requires great skill, strength, knowledge, and swiftness ¾ all characteristics that most men aspire to possess. The enticing caption "Come to Marlboro Country" implies that this "getaway" land can be reached by smoking cigarettes. As Larry White explains, "Marlboro Country was a friendly place to young people . . . it resurrected a way of life that wasn't complicated" (124). However, the most attractive feature of Philip Morris' Marlboros is most likely the image of the cowboy himself.