Bygone Era
It’s nice to look back once in a while and remember where humanity once was, to really put the present in perspective. Take advertising for instance. Socially, the politic isn’t as gullible as it once was, and many methods used to sell products of questionable sanity have since been increasingly regulated. (This can fall into a whole discussion on the balance of power, but I’ll spare you that rant for now). Take the ad at the left for instance. It looks like an early comp or mock-up for the “Socially Distinguished” cigarette Dunhill. First let me tell you where I found this ad.
My mother has this interesting ability to find value in the most unlikely of places.
For instance, she bought me a portfolio once upon a time so I could look for work. My mother, always in search of a great deal, bought the portfolio second hand. Now I don’t recommend using a second hand portfolio unless it really is top notch quality and appears to be fresh, new and slick. My mother is the type of person who can find a used item that fits this description, but as I said before, she has a unique ability.
The portfolio in question was likely from a professional ad-firm and had within it about 30 different advertisements for various cigarette brands circa 1970 or 1980. All of the ads are typical of the example here. They most certainly are not the finished product, but rather idea mock-ups. (It seems the bread and butter for this ad-firm was their cigarette clients) Besides this, the production value of each one is professional and expensive. God knows how many made it to billboards, magazines, race-car tracks and tennis courts, but what I’d like to draw your attention to here is the same lie each and every idea tells.
Obviously, you would have to be quite silly to miss the selling point. Distinction, social status, love, sex etc. etc. Every single one was simple a re-molding of the same concept. The interesting bit comes as a message at the bottom of the poster. Health and Welfare Canada recommend that you don’t inhale if you smoke, because cigarette smoke can cause health complications. HA! Awesome.
It would put a damper on the romance here, if our pilot could not perform his duties with the trophy stewardess if inhaling too much. A limp cigarette is not the message here. Wealth, intrigue and the super slick path to oblivion.
Well since the 80s, cigarette branding it essentially illegal in Canada, and this awesome, gleaming lie can no longer be told, at least for this product. This is a good thing, Canadians noticed the overwhelming negative power being wielded for, ostensibly, evil purposes, and put up some road-blocks. Here is a powerful narrative in our history, a strong precedent. It means that socially humanity, if given enough time to reflect on their actions, are capable of derailing the in-vogue hegemonic juggernaut.
It’s nice to revisit nostalgia like this, there is a positivity to be found when history points to a path of increasing sensibility.