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I've come across some old slides I used to use in programs in the early 1970's. They are ads put out by other countries before the American government put out its own anti-smoking ads, I think probably around the mid 60's. America had a strong vested interest in tobacco and was slower than some other countries at producing any real organized campaigns against smoking.

The first one I am putting up here I think was produced in Russia. Again, I haven't used these in years and am not sure of the origins. Since we are dealing on the Internet here I would be curious if anyone ever saw these ads in the past and know for for a fact what the countries of origin were. I am getting them digitized slowly and will put more up ever few days.

Joel

Below:
The trap is lung cancer, the bait is cigarettes
and the answer to be given when offered a cigarette is
No Thanks!
Anyone know the acutal language?
This too is an ad I first saw used in 1971, but I have
no real knowledge of the year it was actually first produced.

The next one I think was from England.

Since we are addressing the advertising issues today because of the new MSN sponsors that are popping up at our site (see PLEASE NOTE: MSN Sponsored Advertisements Within This Forum), I thought I would bring up our advertising material as it relates to smoking.

These were slides that I also used to use in school presentations and clinics over 25 years ago. I would compare tactics used to entice people to smoke along side with the ads trying to convince them not to smoke. While the tobacco companies always had a lot more money and resources to get their ads out--they always did have the harder job.

What other manufacturer can you think of that has to advertise a product that has to entice young and old alike to take in proven carcinogens, or poisons like arsenic, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide and hundreds of others, and are addictive. What product comes to mind that kills one out of every two users. What product that meets these criteria would you expose yourself and your family to. None. The only reason you did it before is you were an actively using addict and you didn't have a choice. You have a choice now. To keep the power of choice, always remember to stay free and clear from tobacco's devastation always remember to never take another puff!

Classic Cigarette Ads

If you analyze the messages in cigarette advertisement,
they will no longer be able to influence you to idealize
cigarettes. To the contrary you will see how ridiculous the
messages are and it can help reinforce your resolve to
no longer be manipulated by such tactics.

Following are some examples.

As more and more people became afraid of pollution,
tobacco companies tried to tie their products to the idea
of fresh air.

This ad should read,
"If your afraid of pollution, go stick your head in a chimney!

Some people feel as if cigarettes are their companions.
They don't need friends as long as they have cigarettes.

In the following one, the man at least has a dog.
But he probably doesn't even care if the dog
jumps overboard as long as it doesn't
splash and get the cigarettes wet.

The next one showed how they tried to
tie in to the women's liberation movement.
The caption here read, "In 1903 Miss Elma Clairborne
tried to sneak a few drags while her nearsighted husband
was getting his glasses fixed.
Miss Clairborn made a spectacle out of her self.

This was trying to tell women to be equal to men they had to smoke.
Well it worked, women are more equal to men
in heart disease, cancer, strokes and a slew of other diseases now.

They try to tie in smoking with sex.

The caption chopped off in the next one was,
"You make out better at both ends."
Very few people ever saw the cigarette in this ad.

Freud would have loved this next one.
"It's not how long you make it, it's how it makes it long!"

The next one read:
"Nature in the raw is seldom mild!"

Trying to associate a product with sex is not surprising.
Many manufacturers do it in one way or another.
But tobacco companies are unique. They say there product
is better than sex.

The sheik comes into the harem girls tent. As he is about to
carry her out he hears from nowhere "Taste Me, Taste Me!"
When he realized its the cigarettes singing he drops the girl and
takes the cigarettes.

Or this one...

You can see from the look on her face what she wants but
his reaction is "Leave me alone, I want to smoke my cigarette."

Watch ads in the future. See the senseless messages being delivered in them.
They will often show you happy, healthy people participating in vigorous
activities. Think about how many of things shown in ads are just
the opposite of what the reality of your life was when you were a smoker.
Examine the ads and their illusions and look at the reality of smoking
and you will always choose to never take another puff!

Since we are addressing advertising issues today because of the new MSN sponsors that are popping up at our site (see PLEASE NOTE: MSN Sponsored Advertisements Within This Forum), I thought I would bring up our advertising material as it relates to smoking.

From: Joel.

Sent: 6/30/2002 8:25 AM

Some slogans from the past….(most of this letter I wrote back in 1983)

Alive with pleasure. Newport Lights. All out taste. Nothing halfway about it. Merit. Winston. America's Best. Players go places. You've come a long way, baby. Virginia Slim Lights. The proof is all around us. Now. Spoil yourself with Satin. Salem Slim Lights. One beautiful menthol. One beautiful box. One refreshing slim 100. There's only one way to play it...Kool. Marlboro Lights. The spirit of Marlboro in a low tar cigarette. Benson & Hedges. Deluxe Ulta Lights. Only 6mg, yet rich enough to be called deluxe. Lighten up! With low tar Belair. The pleasure is back. Barclay. It's more you. More. Eve Lights. The first thing you notice is taste. Carlton is lowest.

All of these creative slogans were attached to equally attractive advertisements in recent national magazines. The pictures and slogans promised a wide variety of benefits. Health, attractiveness, the beauty of nature and sophistication. No two ads offered quite the same appeal. In fact, the only part of the advertisement that they all shared in common was: "Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous To Your Health." It is only fitting that this is the only promise displayed unanimously by all cigarette promotions. It is the only true statement in any of them.

Tobacco companies spend close to one billion dollars a year promoting what they claim to be a pleasurable, innocuous American institution, cigarettes. What they are promoting is better described by the U.S. Surgeon General as "slow motion suicide." They are promoting death. They are promoting mass addiction. It once caught you. Fortunately, in your case they lost to reason, logic and common sense. So they must find others now to take your place.

They aim their false promises at your friends, family and--worst of all--your children. You know the truth. Share it with those who are willing to listen. If necessary, share it with those who may not be willing, but who need to know. Help your children understand what it means to be hooked on nicotine. Even if you had an easy time quitting, think of all those less fortunate people in your clinic who were sick when trying to give up cigarettes. More important, let them know about all those people who were literally sick from all their past smoking. If you were in a typical clinic, you saw participants with heart disease, cancers, emphysema and patients with a wide variety other smoking related illnesses. People need to know that cigarettes are as addictive as they are deadly.

There is certainly enough promotion telling wonderful tales about cigarettes. Let's give equal time to education about the real facts. The more your family and friends know about the true story of smoking the greater the likelihood that they too will want to pursue the course that you have chosen--to never take another puff!

Joel