Joe Chemo
Morgan Todd
English 103-30
January 28, 2013
Joe Chemo The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 45.3 million people in the United States to be cigarette smokers. Such an astounding number is certainly an accomplishment for cigarette companies and their investors. But after learning cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.; the number only seems grotesque and disheartening. However, in recent years, there has been a national push for anti-smoking campaigns. More specifically, anti-smoking advocates have made a tremendous effort to raise awareness in children and adolescents in an attempt to decrease the nation’s startling smoking statistics for the near future. A tactful attempt to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking cigarettes has come from the use of satirical advertisements. An example of such an advertisement was found on the website adbusters.org. The image invokes a reaction from viewers while discrediting the Camel brand with the use of the same rhetorical strategies used to initially capture a massive market for Marlboro cigarettes in an original advertisement. The spoof advertisement is able to discredit such a renowned company by carrying the bulk of its argument in the use of logos opposed to relying solely on an emotional appeal. Figure [ 1 ]: Joe Chemo spoof advertisement
The spoof ad found on the “adbusters” website (Figure 1) was illustrated by Ron Turner in 1996. The image is of Marlboro’s recognizable Joe Camel lying in a hospital bed with an intravenous drip attached to his arm. Joe Camel’s smile is absent, his skin is pale, his hair gray, and his eyes, that stare longingly at the sunglasses in his hands, are dark and fatigue ridden. The colors used by Turner are pale, grayish selections of green, blue and white. The monotonous colors allow the viewer’s eyes to easily be drawn to the words “Joe Chemo,” written in Marlboro’s traditional fonts and displayed in the upper right-hand
English 103-30
January 28, 2013
Joe Chemo The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 45.3 million people in the United States to be cigarette smokers. Such an astounding number is certainly an accomplishment for cigarette companies and their investors. But after learning cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.; the number only seems grotesque and disheartening. However, in recent years, there has been a national push for anti-smoking campaigns. More specifically, anti-smoking advocates have made a tremendous effort to raise awareness in children and adolescents in an attempt to decrease the nation’s startling smoking statistics for the near future. A tactful attempt to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking cigarettes has come from the use of satirical advertisements. An example of such an advertisement was found on the website adbusters.org. The image invokes a reaction from viewers while discrediting the Camel brand with the use of the same rhetorical strategies used to initially capture a massive market for Marlboro cigarettes in an original advertisement. The spoof advertisement is able to discredit such a renowned company by carrying the bulk of its argument in the use of logos opposed to relying solely on an emotional appeal. Figure [ 1 ]: Joe Chemo spoof advertisement
The spoof ad found on the “adbusters” website (Figure 1) was illustrated by Ron Turner in 1996. The image is of Marlboro’s recognizable Joe Camel lying in a hospital bed with an intravenous drip attached to his arm. Joe Camel’s smile is absent, his skin is pale, his hair gray, and his eyes, that stare longingly at the sunglasses in his hands, are dark and fatigue ridden. The colors used by Turner are pale, grayish selections of green, blue and white. The monotonous colors allow the viewer’s eyes to easily be drawn to the words “Joe Chemo,” written in Marlboro’s traditional fonts and displayed in the upper right-hand