Light up. Cigarette ads from yesteryear

Cigarettes are slowly becoming a taboo. Not everywhere but it's rare to see a character you like smoking a cigarette (can you name a habitual smoker currently on tv? The most recent to come to mind is Carrie) and they are now rarely depicted in movies or tv shows. I'm always a little surprised to find a cigarette ad in a magazine. Anti-cigarette ads, however, are a plenty. 

But it wasn't always like this. There was a time when cigarettes were accepted not only with open arms but with a bit of ridiculousness as well. Check out the video below to not only see doctors promote cigarettes but also THE FLINTSTONES. 

I've been a smoker for several years (and have been trying to kick the habit for several years as well) but that...that was a little much for me. But I guess back then it wasn't such a big deal. 

However, as strange and alien as it seems now, there is a certain beauty to the old ads. Before the antismoking movement really took off by way of the Truth Campaign and other similar organizations, Joe Camel and the Marlboro man were a part of day to day life. Don't get me wrong, I am totally happy that there is a war on cigarettes and do (often) curse myself for starting (I'd like to say when I was young and dumb but I'm still quite young....and still quite good at making dumb decisions) but I wouldn't mind going to an exhibit filled with the best ads from this category. This is a multibillion dollar business that is now the villain if the general marlet. I happen to find that very interesting. 

The Alphonse Mucha Job cigarette posters are beautiful. Smoker or not, these are just very appealing and seem more like a fine art painting than an advertisement. And also appear on many college student (at least at my school) walls, whether they smoke or not. 










I added this one even though it isn't a cigarette advertisement. It's a sweater advertisement. A MANLY sweater. A MANLY man who boats and smokes. I guess more along the lines of exploring the culture of the cigarette back then as opposed to now.


This one is a little unsettling...mostly because only children are suppose to believe in Santa...and he's hawking cigarettes..


Yeahy Mr. President!

Ok ok, lets end this on a good note. As a cultural phenomenon, cigarettes have taken on very different roles in our society. Cigarettes in themselves are also very interesting as they are a product linked with death and disease yet completely legal (I spoke with my dad about this earlier today (which sparked this entry) and he said something very interesting. He said that if cigarettes were invented right now, there is no way they would ever be allowed anywhere near the market because the idea would be just too absurd. I have to say I agree with him, Especially since chewing tobacco and cigarettes became popular before they were tied to health hazards and then once the hazards came out, they were too engrained in culture to erase? I guess the government learned it's lesson when it came time to decide what to do about LSD) and still carry a certain connotation with them. For some people a very negative one. For some people a very comforting one.

So time for that positive I promised! This is an anti smoking ad poster from a campaign in Poland:

Rough translation (but with the meaning intact) is basically, "Smoking is for assholes." (When something is "do dupy" it means it's crappy so a literal translation is "smoking is crappy"...I like my take on it better. Especially since "dupa" means ass).