In the 1950’s and early 1960’s America cigarette smoking was
depicted as trendy and sophisticated. Hollywood icons such as Audrey Hepburn
and James Dean made smoking look attractive and cool. Cigarette smoking
also grew popular for being cheap, legal and socially acceptable.
Most early European doctors followed the Native American
belief that tobacco can be used as a medicine before the negative effects of
smoking were known. To increase the sales cigarette companies’ overwhelmed
people with ads on TV, radio, billboards, in magazines and newspapers. Several advertising campaigns from the 1930's
through the 1950's praised the healthy virtues of cigarettes. Camel famously ran
a commercial saying: "More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette”
to relieve the fears of smoking.
This commercial argued that Camel’s cigarettes were the best
cigarette brand based on a national survey in which doctors claimed that their
product had the best taste and mildness. The viewers of this particular ad were
inclined to believe that this information was true because credible doctors approved
of this fact.
The Stasis Theory can be applied to this commercial, and it
will give people an understanding of America’s positive opinion on smoking
during the 1960’s, before we initially knew of its harmful side effects.
·
The conjecture of the advertisement is that
doctors during this time period approved of smoking cigarettes, specifically
Camel’s cigarettes.
·
The cause was the Camel cigarette company wanted
to increasing sales be persuading that they had the best product compared to
other brands.
·
The effects were that it encouraged viewers to
smoke Camel cigarettes because it was the favorite among doctors around the world.
·
The value of this commercial was that smoking
was portrayed as a socially accepted act.
·
The jurisdiction was that the consumers should
decide whether Camel’s cigarettes are the best tasting compared to other brands
after them have tried them.
-Jena Baguyos
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ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteShirley ChisholmFebruary 24, 2016 at 7:10 PM
Jena, I think you explained the stasis theory behind this extremely well and had some great points. If you had to pick one stasis theory that the ad directly reflects, which do you think it is? I think that action would probably be what the ad uses simply because it is an advertisement which prompts people to go buy something or do something. This ad, in particular, is encouraging people to choose "Camels" as their cigarette.
-Lucia Tarantino
I like how you referenced celebrities such as Audrey Hepburn and James Dean to relay your message. This helps convey the idea that it was acceptable and that "everyone was doing it" at the time. I think you should also talk about how young people started smoking at a time when it was acceptable, and contrast that with how things are today.
ReplyDelete-Sam Jalowicz
Nice post Jena! You lay out the Stasis Theory and it's applications to the cigarette ads very succinctly and directly. You point out all the tactics of the cigarette adverts very well.
ReplyDeleteI ask you to think about these questions: How different would cigarette advertisements have been if they did not utilize components of stasis theory? Would it have decreased profits? What would the repercussions be today if the drug industry weren't as successful?
-Shirley Chisholm (Brendan Xu)
Good work Jena, you clearly explained each section of the stasis theory and how the advertisement directly relates to it. The advertisement was smart to use doctors as the credible source, because prior to the ad people were not questioning the negative side to cigarettes but rather only looking for someone to tell them that smoking is not bad. I think the most important theory would be the value of the ad. With doctors, and other famous names being used to promote the cigarettes, normal citizens wanted to group themselves with these people.
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