Analyzing ads

Joe Camel

Back in the 90's, magazine advertisements for promoting smoking cigarets were everywhere. More often then not, it was difficult to identify what the ad was trying to sell from the caotic surroundings. The only small clue you were given was the large package of cigarets photoshopped in the corer of the ad and the small cigaret in the persons hand. The article I am analyzing is against smoking. This negative advertisement for smoking is a photograph of "Joe Camel" in a hospital bed. Joe Camel was a very popular advertisement animal for Camel cigarets. Except this time the camel is miserable lying in his hospital-bed. His eyes are sunken in, he is sickly skinny, and he has no hair on his body indicating his is going through Chemotherapy. In this advertisement instead of the words Joe Camel posted at the top of the ad, it says "Joe Chemo". There is a small caption at the bottom of the ad stating, "The Surgeon general warns that smoking is a frequent cause of wasted potential and fatal regret". In contrast the camel is sitting in the hospital bed sadly staring down at his sunglasses. These sunglasses, represent his past and how he used to have a great paying job and life, except he regretfully destroyed his life by smoking cigarets. He had so much potential in life, and the ability to life live to it's fullest, now he can't. This advertisement is saying that it is no longer considered ''cool'' to smoke, and if you chose to smoke you are wasting your life away with a guarantee to be diagnosed with cancer.

The mood created in the advertisement is depressing and I don't think it has a very big impact on the reader. Since this advertisement is a cartoon drawing of a camel with cancer, I think most people don't take smoking very seriously. If the artist was to incorperate family members of the camel, like children, I think ads like these would help guid people to stop smoking.