New "feminine" Cigarette Advertisement

This cigarette ad is for Camel No. 9’s and is Camel’s attempt at targeting women in their advertising. Take a look at the ad:

Some of the things you might have noticed at first glance are:

1. the hot pink border and text
2. the soft, swirly, whimsical, background
3. how it’s labeled as “new”
4. the slogan “light and luscious”
5. the pink roses framing the cigarettes
6. the contrast between the black cigarettes and the rest of the ad
7. the text is soft and feminine

Further information can be seen through the Circuit of Culture:

Production: Cigarette companies

Consumption: Smokers, non-smokers who buy cigarettes because of the ads

Identity: CEO’s of cigarette companies

Regulation: Illegal if under 18

Presentation/representation: Negative connotation to smoking, but advertisements try to put it in a good light

That’s the basic analysis, but what does it mean? The pink colors and background attempt to appeal to a feminine audience. The slogan “light and luscious” is softly worded and is also attempting to appeal to women. The roses are an interesting addition; roses, and flowers in general, are seen to be a symbol for beauty, love, and femininity. Combined with the slogan, that seems reminiscent of some sort of chocolate advertisement (light and luscious), this can be seen as an effort to pair up flowers and chocolate, a stereotypical view of what women like and enjoy. It seems as if the Camel Company studied conventional ads targeting women and twisted their strategies to create this cigarette advertisement.

Smoking started off as a masculine activity, so many advertisements are aimed at men; they are bold, peppered with cowboys and rugged deserts, and feature beautiful women (who are being objectified as sexual objects to sell a product to a man).

This advertisement takes a different approach and utilizes more “feminine” attributes to target women. There has been a lot of controversy over these advertisements, stating that the ads are in fact attempting to target young women in the 15-17 yr old range.

This is wrong and immoral what cigarette companies do. It is not fully apparent that they are targeting specifically young women, but they are not excluding them either. The uproar around the ad says something about our culture, too. The stereotypes that our culture perpetuates are being used against it to target women into smoking. The articles I read on the controversy, such as this one, seem to view women as “gullible” and in need of protection from these ads. If the ad was in blue, with a slightly different slogan and text, I personally don’t think anyone would care. Our culture seems to support the idea that men are more self-sufficient and can make their own decisions.

Ultimately, our culture is upset that these cigarette ads are targeting women, but it’s just as much at fault for perpetuating the stereotypes and ideas that the advertisement is utilizing to attract these women.