Malboro Man
Assignment 1,
The Marlboro Man
The Marlboro Man was one of the most successful advertisement campaigns of its time. This assignment will look at the forces behind the image of the Marlboro Man and how the images of a cowboy or stockman has influenced an audience into buying cigarettes that eventually lead to many deaths. (Brannstrom, I & Lindlad, IB (1994). The style of a mature aged cowboy remained on billboards and in newspapers around the world until the end of the twentieth century.
The advertising campaign for the Marlboro Man embedded Signs to give purpose to the audience. The Intended audience is drawn to the advertisement and this attraction is used to persuade the audience to buy the object of the advertisement. To analyse a text or picture, the signs must be identified within the text and whom the signs are targeted towards.
In this image, we can see the ‘marketing of an American cowboy.’ (L.Feitz, pge8). The Myth of the Marlboro Man appealed to many buyers because of the masculinity and ruggedness that comes with the idea of being an American Cowboy. The manliness of the Marlboro Man draws upon the mythical image of the warrior of the Wild West and encouraged the Phatic bond between viewer and the Marlboro Man. The viewer’s degree of Phatic Bond would rely on the desire to smoke.
The targeted market, in so much as the dominant reading, would be the young male, who easily identify with the image associated with the ruggedness and masculinity of the myth of the Wild West as a visual sign of his acceptance and become consciously or subconsciously drawn to this brand. Alternatively the same process would apply to the viewer rejecting the image due to the understanding of the health issues by the image having a health warning in the right hand corner.
To a non smoker the image may be totally rejected. The dominant reading, is the preferred effect of the text or image within the Marlboro advertisement which draws upon the mystic of the Wild
The Marlboro Man
The Marlboro Man was one of the most successful advertisement campaigns of its time. This assignment will look at the forces behind the image of the Marlboro Man and how the images of a cowboy or stockman has influenced an audience into buying cigarettes that eventually lead to many deaths. (Brannstrom, I & Lindlad, IB (1994). The style of a mature aged cowboy remained on billboards and in newspapers around the world until the end of the twentieth century.
The advertising campaign for the Marlboro Man embedded Signs to give purpose to the audience. The Intended audience is drawn to the advertisement and this attraction is used to persuade the audience to buy the object of the advertisement. To analyse a text or picture, the signs must be identified within the text and whom the signs are targeted towards.
In this image, we can see the ‘marketing of an American cowboy.’ (L.Feitz, pge8). The Myth of the Marlboro Man appealed to many buyers because of the masculinity and ruggedness that comes with the idea of being an American Cowboy. The manliness of the Marlboro Man draws upon the mythical image of the warrior of the Wild West and encouraged the Phatic bond between viewer and the Marlboro Man. The viewer’s degree of Phatic Bond would rely on the desire to smoke.
The targeted market, in so much as the dominant reading, would be the young male, who easily identify with the image associated with the ruggedness and masculinity of the myth of the Wild West as a visual sign of his acceptance and become consciously or subconsciously drawn to this brand. Alternatively the same process would apply to the viewer rejecting the image due to the understanding of the health issues by the image having a health warning in the right hand corner.
To a non smoker the image may be totally rejected. The dominant reading, is the preferred effect of the text or image within the Marlboro advertisement which draws upon the mystic of the Wild
References: Barry, A. M. (1997) Visual Intelligence: Perception, Image and Manipulation in Visual Communications. Albany: State University of New York Press Brannstrom, I & Lindlad, I B (1994) Mass Communication & Health Promotion. The Power of Media and Public Opinion Health Communication 6(1), 21-36. DeBevec, Kathleen and Easwar Iyer (1986), “The Influence of Spokesperson in Altering a Product’s Gender image: Implications for Advertising Effectiveness,” Journal of Advertising, 15 (4), 12-20. Richard C. Maddock and Richard L. Fulton (Published January 30th 2000 by Praeger)