This ad for Camel cigarettes depicts a hardworking man’s fingers covered in grime. The subtext is that true, hardworking men smoke Camel cigarettes. The ad uses colors commonly found outdoors, such as yellow and green. Then, in between the fingers, the ad says, “Find Your INSPIRATION.” with their Camel logo right beneath it. Then in the bottom right corner, the ad says, “Taste it all.”
The target audience for this ad is middle to senior aged men, which is suggested by the man’s hands, which show they have been calloused and rough from years of hard work. This ad could also be directed at men in their late teens to early twenties because of the words “Find Your INSPIRATION” which is telling men that if you smoke Camel cigarettes you will be inspired to work hard. This is bad because tobacco products of any sort have a great risk of causing cancer, along with other debilitating diseases. It’s also bad because teens can’t legally smoke!
The subtext is that all hardworking men smoke Camel cigarettes and that if you truly want to to work hard, you need to smoke. This message could cause young men to start smoking because they want to be able to work hard and be able to have a steady income, when in reality, smoking cigarettes would do the exact opposite.
While it is now required that tobacco products have the Surgeon General’s warning (that smoking may cause cancer and other types of horrible diseases), the slogan on this says “Taste it all.” In reality when you smoke for years, you have a great chance of losing your sense of both taste and smell. The ad also leaves out the price, which in most places is seven dollars for a pack. When many smokers are pack-a-day smokers, that comes out to over $2,500 a year. This is money that could have otherwise been put better use to support your family.
This ad also reinforces the stereotype that only caucasian, middle aged men are true hard workers, isolating them from all other races and age groups. The ad also isolates women as it only shows a man as hard working and leaves them out. Then also it challenges those who have managed to give up smoking or those trying to give it up by trying to tempt them to buy their cigarettes and start smoking again.