I really miss cigarette advertising
by Julian Gratton
The classic advert for cigarette brand Silk Cut
About six and a half years ago I gave up smoking, having smoked for well over ten years. Giving up was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life, and I take great pride in the fact that I did it without the help of plastic cigarettes, patches or funny-tasting gum.
To a certain extent I quite miss smoking. I used to love the chats that I had with Jim, Neil and Nick in the dingy smoking room. I used to love lighting up after a really good meal and savouring the tobacco with a coffee or Cognac. More than anything, though, I loved the advertising… that was until the Labour Party introduced the legislative bill known as the ‘Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002’.
I know it was for the best really.
Before I continue with this Blog posting I just want to say that ‘I know’. I know that banning cigarette advertising was for the best and it began the journey our country is now taking into becoming a smoke-free nation. Yet, I have this inescapable feeling that an outright ban on cigarette advertising has meant we’ve lost a unique art form from our streets and cinema screens, an art form that captivated, puzzled, launched careers and yes… sold lots of cigarettes!
Back when I was a student, there was Benson & Hedges.
I had a dream. And that dream was to work for an advertising agency called Collett Dickenson Pearce (CDP), which was regarded as one of the best advertising agencies in the world. And rightly so, after all it was the birthplace of such classic slogans as ‘Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach’ and ‘Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet’.
CDP was also the place where many now famous people would cut their teeth on campaigns for Hovis Bread, Cinzano and Birds Eye. You know, people like Lord David Puttnam, Sir Alan Parker (Director of the amazing Mississippi Burning), John Hegarty (of Bartle Bogle & Hegarty), Charles Saatchi (of Saatchi & Saatchi) and Sir Ridley Scott (who would go on to Direct films like Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator).
For me, though, it was the place that effectively launched the surrealist advertising movement in Britain during the 1970s with memorable campaigns for Benson & Hedges. CDP had to do this to circumvent new restrictions on associating smoking with youth, glamour or lifestyle. This led to a series of images placing the product’s gold pack in highly contrived, surreal surroundings. No people were shown, and not a word of copy was used, apart from the obligatory Government health warnings.
The advertising art on the streets and in magazines was only an appetizer for what the agency was going to do in the cinema. They took the beauty and surrealism of the 48 and 96 sheets and added a dash of the ‘Hollywood blockbuster’ to create cinema commercials that actually put some of the movies they were placed before to shame!
Everyone tries Silk Cut sooner or later.
Back in 1984 Saatchi & Saatchi got in on the surreal advertising game with their striking campaigns for Silk Cut. The adverts, which showed a piece of silk having been cut were different to Benson & Hedges in the fact that they began to have a little fun with the cigarette buying public; as you would often have to guess what the advert was saying… highlighted by the classic ‘Director’s Cut’ advert shown below.
Needless to say the adverts were a massive success and sales of Silk Cut soared during the mid 80s and early 90s. And a young Julian, as well as having a dalliance with Silk Cut (thanks to the local corner shop selling separates) would also have a scrapbook filled with silk cut adverts… one of my favourites being the very last Silk Cut advert with the fat lady singing her heart out as Silk Cut adverts say goodbye to the general public.
It's not over till...
Even Marlboro got a look in at one stage.
Back in 1954, the advertising agency Leo Burnett created the Marlboro Man, a rugged cowboy, often on horseback, out in the wilds smoking a tab… as you do! Like the ads created by CDP in the 1970s, the Marlboro ads were unique in the fact they were the first to convey meaning just through the use of imagery.
As the advertising developed we were eventually introduced to ‘Marlboro Country’, a solitary place where one could indeed enjoy a smoke or two without the risk of being accused of polluting the atmosphere.
These adverts were beautiful in their simplicity and often just employed a stunning photograph of the American Midwest. The rationale behind these adverts were that smoking a Marlboro offered an opportunity to fantasise about an escape to a mythical Marlboro Country, which epitomized a slower lifestyle that required a strong masculine figure to carry out tasks!
Welcome to Marlboro Country... fancy a fag?
Now we’ve given up on smoking, we seem to have lost something.
I miss the inventiveness that cigarette advertising brought to this industry. You could argue that advertising for alcohol has taken over from where cigarettes left off… but to me they just don’t seem to have the class that cigarette advertising had. Although any advert for Guinness these days seems to capture the spirit of those classic cigarette adverts of the 1970s and 80s.
The photographic art, humour and intelligence that cigarette advertising brought to the streets and magazines of Britain were a wonder to behold. The more adverts I see these days, the more I wish we could have a return to advertising surrealism… I miss the simplistic nature, beautiful art direction and clever thinking… oh well, at least I still have my Silk Cut scrapbook!
A cigar before we go!
Ok, I know it’s not a cigarette, but it still falls under tobacco. And I just couldn’t resist sharing with you another classic advert by Collett Dickenson Pearce… this time for Hamlet. Sheer genius… bet they came up with this idea and wrote it down on the back of a fag packet!
If you’d like to know more about advertising… why not give Red C a call on 0161 872 1361 or click here
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