Right Pitch, Wrong Product
These cigarettes ads would be funny if they weren’t so unsettling. It goes to show the power of persuasive advertising. What’s interesting is that the advertising geniuses of yesteryear knew every emotional “button” to push to get consumers to buy their product – advice of medical experts, cute babies, celebrity endorsements, stress relief promises, sex appeal, rugged men, debonair men, sophisticated ladies, fun-loving physically fit youth, even Santa Claus. All the themes of universal desire were wrapped into the brand pitch. Arguably, no other product has been advertised as effectively as cigarettes. That’s all very admirable until you remember that the product itself is one of the leading causes of cancer even today.
