Creating an Advert PART II - research

 From the beginning I knew that I wanted to create a cigerettes advert, therefore I started researching old adverts about smoking.
I wanted to create an advertisement for cigarettes because there are no longer made, so I saw there an opportunity to create a modern take on these wild looking today adverts.
As a non smoker, first thing I had to do was to find out about the brands themselves.
They had to fulfil these criteria:
- They had to be on the market for quite a long time,
- Their old adverts had to feel as ridiculous as possible for a modern viewer,
- Their adverts had to be in a form which could be modernised for the current market.
With that in mind, I chose three brands: 'Luxury cigarettes', 'Lucky Strike', and 'Craven 'A''.

1. LUXURY CIGARETTES

Article about vintage Cigarette ads

This advert of Luxury cigarettes, maybe is not as absurd as some can be but clearly shows how cigarettes were seen in the beginning of the XX century. They were a part of every social gathering and were seen as a harmless trend. What is interesting as well in this particular commercial is a composition of a couple sharing a pack of cigarettes on a boat. What is also fascinating is the use of a hard light separating the smoking couple form the rest of the scene. It seems like the experience of smoking a cigarette is so magical that separates you from the rest of the world. I like the emphasis on the box itself, the brand seems to be proud of it and wants everyone to know how it looks like.

2. LUCKY STRIKE

Article about vintage cigarette ads

Not even twenty years after the 'Luxury Cigarettes' ad, smoking commercials started to be bizarre and quite silly from a present perspective. From this newspaper advert we can learn how much better and safer cigarettes are than sweets. 'REACH FOR A LUCKY INSTEAD OF A SWEET' is a slogan for Lucky Strikes. I appreciate the use of abbreviated version of the brand's name in order to create a hidden rhyme with 'sweet'. Another fascinating thing about this advert is the use of graphic novel looking speech bubble to not only show the quote of a celebrity but also represent the exhaled smoke. The thinness of the line also represents the thinness of the cigarettes itself. It creates the invisible connection in your brain that connects being thin with Lucky Strike.

3. Craven 'A'

Article about vintage cigarette ads

With time the ludicrousness of smoking commercials grew more and more. In 1939, ten years after the above mentioned 'Lucky Strike' advert, Craven 'A' released the ad saying that cigarettes are preventing sore throat, which from today's perspective is quite bizarre. I like the change of composition compared to the previous ads. Here on the first plan is a woman smoking, while in the previous ones emphasises on the cigarettes' packaging. This advert is far more courageous. In the other commercials you could barely see any cigarettes in hand. 

In conclusion, cigarette ads in the XX century were using a wide variety of commercial tactics. They used smart word plays and rhymes, that were supposed to stay in your memory. The composition was another key component of successful commercial. Brands used the hidden composition techniques, like separating shadows and light to subconsciously sell you their product.

I will take these information in consideration while creating my own campaign.

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References:

CR Fashion Book. 2020. Vintage Cigarette Ads. [online] Available at: <https://www.crfashionbook.com/culture/g26973101/vintage-cigarette-ads/?slide=8> [Accessed 18 October 2020].

Farrell, T., 2020. Craven A Cigarette: A History Of Carreras. [online] Let's Look Again. Available at: <http://letslookagain.com/2020/05/craven-a-cigarette-a-history-of-carreras/> [Accessed 18 October 2020].

Stanford.io. 2020. Stanford Research Into The Impact Of Tobacco Advertising. [online] Available at: <https://stanford.io/2HpTXEc> [Accessed 18 October 2020].