Cigarette Advertisements

Cigarette Advertisements The tobacco industry is the second largest advertiser in the print media, including magazines and newspapers, and the largest advertiser on the billboards. I agree with Weiss in her essay about McDonald’s and Old Spice Man. I agree because I think that a lot of advertisement’s can be very misleading. The essay that I am writing about supports her many views because it tells about how advertising can be deceiving to consumers. As a consumer in a world of constant advertising messages being flashed before my eyes, I am always wary of the truth of those messages that I see. It is terrible when consumers see an advertisement, whether it is in a magazine, television or any other medium, and they decide to make a purchase only to find out they are not getting what they originally planned or have to pay more than they had expected. Deceptive advertisements have been a problem since the early days of media and consumers have needed to keep an eye out for them. Yet, with so many advertisements that consumers are exposed to each day, worrying about the truth of every line and every sentence of an ad is quite inconvenient. Advertisers must follow strict guidelines to stay clear of lawsuits resulting from deceptive advertisements. I will be focusing on cigarette advertisements and how consumers have been deceived through their ads. Deceptive advertising can be described as advertising which is misleading in a material aspect. This definition would include all the false and misleading advertisements that would appear in print, television, radio, outdoor and direct mailings. As any consumer can see, advertisers have many means by which they can trick or deceive the consumers. Cigarettes are one of the most heavily marketed consumer products in the United States. Tobacco companies currently spend almost six billion dollars a year to promote and advertise their products and have increased their spending by more than twelve times since 1971. Through advertising and promotion, the tobacco industry targets one point seventy-five million new smokers a year to compensate for those who quit or die. Ninety-eight percent of teens recognize Joe Camel, which is slightly more than the percentage of those who knew the Marlboro Cowboy. Twenty-four percent of children were able to match the Marlboro Man with Marlboro cigarettes. Teenagers are three times more responsive than adults to cigarette advertising. It is readily recognized by children as young as three years old. Recent studies have shown that older children have an even higher recognition of cigarette trade characters. The cigarette company portrays smoking as fun, sexy, glamorous, macho and mostly insidiously, healthful. Half the teens surveyed felt that Camel advertisements that featured Joe Camel and his friends hanging out, playing pool, did make smoking more appealing. However, even though they found it appealing, it did cause them to go out and buy that particular brand. The percentage of teens that felt the advertisements made it more appealing was greater than the percentage that felt the advertisements made them want the product. Teens found the advertisements made it a form of entertainment. One of the main reasons why teens tend to take up smoking is that it tends to be the popular thing to do. Popular brand cigarettes are not determined by the advertising campaigns, but by which brands their friends smoke. In the end smoking is just an image thing. Depending on what brand you choose to smoke, can determine how cool you are. Image makes brands popular, not advertisements. Joe Camel is portrayed as cool and popular in advertisements. A second reason teens take up smoking is because they see adults doing it. One of the surveys found that teens began smoking Marlboro’s because it was the more adult brand to choose from. Joe Camel is a cartoon, and therefore, not as adult as Marlboro. Advertising does not determine which brand of cigarettes is more adult. The people around the teen determine which brand is considered more adult. The third reason that determines which brand is chosen by teens is the cost. What teens often want is the cheapest or simplest available brand of cigarettes. The price of a pack of cigarettes is another determining factor in which brand a teen chooses to smoke. The fourth reason that compels teens to choose a brand is what promotional items can be received. Teens believe that What makes Marlboro so appealing are the promotional goods that smokers can get by saving up “Marlboro Miles”, not because of Marlboro’s advertising campaign. The result from bans on cigarette advertising has not really done what was expected of it. For example, many teens take up smoking due to peer pressure. They see their friends smoking and think its cool, so in return they experiment too. Sometimes smoking is used to be accepted into a group. Another reason teens are smoking is to be an adult. Children want to be grown up, or act older; in return, they feel smoking will help them achieve this. Marlboro’s tend to be the more adult brand cigarette. People have made the correlation between advertising and smoking because Marlboro is one of the most heavily smoke brands in the United States and one of the most heavily advertised. However, the correlation has no basis in fact. The only reason that Marlboro’s are the most heavily smoked brand in the United States is because they are considered more adult-like. People smoke for various reasons, many of which are not because of advertisements of cigarettes. Therefore, there are many factors that add to the problems of underage smokers, and campaigning. They should put some ease to the consumer because they know that the advertisements should be truthful and they should contain all of the information necessary to make an informed decision. It will still be necessary for the consumer to read through ads completely and carefully, not relying solely on the large, bold copy of the ad. Print ads, especially cigarette ads, try to be visually pleasing to the eye but there is a need for the negative; information to be displayed. As a general rule to the consumer, always be as informed as possible before making a purchasing decision. Buyers beware.