1. Alan Stephen Evans
BA (Hons)
Photography
2005/06
GSG2-01 Critical and Contextual Studies
Stewart Roberts
November 22nd 2005
Sign Wars: Advertising and Media Semiotics

2. I have chosen cigarette advertising for the purpose of this essay. As a youth, I frequently attended the local
cinema. Before each film, the cigarette industry did its best to sell the joys of smoking. One that sticks in my
mind is the add for Hamlet cigars. The slow classical music and the tagline, “happiness is a cigar called
Hamlet”. It persuaded an eleven-year-old boy to go out and purchase a pack for his dad. As a mature student, it
has become a source of interest to annalyse just how and why they did it. Since its discovery and subsequent
travel around the globe, tobacco has become a source for great wealth. The tobacco industry has grown and
spawned companies, which make billions of pounds each year. Advertising has played a big part in its success.
Opponents claim that tobacco has killed thousands of people with direct smoking and made thousands of others
sick through passive smoking. Despite the well-documented health warnings, the tobacco industry continues to
thrive. Cigarettes have been portrayed amongst other things as,
A WARTIME FRIEND MAKER OF FRIENDS A CHRISTMAS GIFT
1 2 3
A CULT CLASSIC A PLEASURE THE 9TH WONDER
4 5 6
Advertisers have strived to draw attention to the cigarette. Newspapers, television, radio, cinema, sporting
events and billboards have all been used to promote the industries product. They have been presented in a
number of ways. In most cases, it has included a strong visual content and design as well as clever use of
language. In his book, Gotcha Twice, Wei Yew describes the billboard as a ‘tremendous medium for getting
attention’.1
7
Marlboro is the world's best-known brand after Coca-Cola. It is the world's top selling
cigarette brand. Top 10 Tobacco Brands Worldwide in 2003 by volume In 2003 the volume
of sales reached 475bn cigarettes.2 The main reason for this success has been the
advertising campaign. Leo Burnett's Marlboro Man. Regarded by many as the most
successful advertising campaign of all time. Marlboro was a failing brand with a mainly
female audience when Burnett introduced the cowboy. This later add features a cowboy
riding a horse. The layout here is an A4 format. It is suited to newspapers and magazines.
The cowboy has a cigarette hanging from one side of his mouth. The slogan reads ‘Come to
Marlboro Country’. The colours are predominantly earthy browns with a blue sky. The text
is, white, sans serif. It sits at the top of the page. The cigarette packet sits in the bottom left
corner. The red and white packet is open with two cigarettes popping up. The image is iconic. The advertising
agent responsible for the add said, "We asked ourselves what was the most generally accepted symbol of
masculinity in America."3 The answer must have been, a cowboy. Described at the time as ‘an international
1
Wei Yew, Gotcha Twice, The Art of the Billboard 2, Quon Editions, Preface
2
http://www.mind-advertising.com
3
P. Taylor, Smoke Ring - The Politics of Tobacco, 1984, Bodley Head, p29

3. symbol of freedom of choice’.4 The cowboy is an all American hero. He is close to the earth. This is signified in
the choice of earthy colours. The preferred reading of the image is of freedom, ruggedness, and masculinity.
The audience is predominantly the American male population. A film version usually featured before film
showings at cinemas. It was accompanied by the music from the film, ‘the Magnificent Seven’. The film itself
achieved cult status. It invites you to buy into a time, a place and a lifestyle. The honest cowboy has been
commodified. In truth, the Marlboro Man is a legend or a myth. It has been placed firmly in the psyche of
Americans. According to a study of advertising campaigns, consumers reported seeing more Marlboro Man
cigarette ads than ads for any other campaign, including McDonald's and Pepsi. 829 out of a sample of 1,005
adults had seen the ads three times or more.5
8
Anti smoking groups have targeted the Phillip Morris International Group. They have
accused them of marketing to children. A study from the University of Michigan found
that smoking among eighth-graders increased 30 percent between 1991 and 1994. About
85 percent of the teens that buy cigarettes in the United States usually purchase
Marlboro, Newport or Camel cigarettes - the nation's most heavily marketed brands. In
response, Phillip Morris International have established youth smoking prevention area on
their website. They are also championing community initiatives.6
Following the systematic banning of tobacco advertising in the U.K the U.S and the E.U. Cigarette
manufacturers have moved towards utilising public sporting events through sponsorship or the provision of
prize money. Internet advertising, cigarette advertisers are also exploiting group pages, bloggers and viral
adverts. ‘Pop ups’ have become a major source of irritation for web users.
9
10
Leo Burnett’s original image of the ‘Marlboro Man’ received a new
lease of life when it was replicated in 2004 on numerous websites. The
contemporary version showing a U.S. marine was circulated worldwide
making him an overnight celebrity. Marlboro are now associated with
the Grand Prix racing circuit and off road expeditions.
11
British American Tobacco is the world's most international tobacco company,
selling over 300 brands of cigarette in 180 countries, including Benson & Hedges. 7
This add was used as part of the company’s cinema and billboard campaign. The
posters have gone on to be included in world’s 100 best posters. The add features
the pyramids of Egypt amidst a setting sun. The colours are predominantly gold.
The main signifier here is the colour. The colour gold can be associated with
wealth and beauty. The preferred reading might be that the gold in the poster is linked to the distinctive gold
cigarette packet. It could also trigger a symbolic link between the gold within the tombs of the Pharohs, to the
desirable and sought after gold packet. The audience would have to have some prior knowledge of the brand
before an association could be made. The pyramids are one of the World’s wonders. They are mysterious and a
magnificent feat of human effort. The pyramids have been commodified and are unable to object to being used
4
N. Souther & S Newman, Creative Director’s Sourcebook, 1988, Mc Donald & Co, p234
5
www.kickbutt.org
6
www.kickbutt.org
7
www.mind-advertising.com

4. in this way. They are iconic and globally recognised. The target audience is a worldwide adult market. The
scale of the adds is intended for billboards, magazines and the wide screens of the cinema. The poster does not
carry any message. It is a purely visual image. The absence of text as a reference means that the symbolism
needs to be consciously understood. The viewer is required to decide what it means. The add differs in
approach to the marlboro man. There are no cigarettes and an absence of people smoking. In the 1970’s, new
cigarette advertising rules meant that it was becoming difficult to say anything specific about a tobacco product.
12
Further posters became more surreal and generated more interest. The psychopathic
dentist ad bears only the words, "Smoking Causes Fatal Diseases" and the tar and nicotine
content. Others included packets of Benson & Hedges cigarettes as candles, pencil
shavings, fossils, skelatised snakes, etc.8
13
The anti smoking lobby has grown steadily. It has placed pressure on
governments around the world to ban advertising and sponsorship by the
tobacco industry. You are no longer allowed to smoke in many public
buildings, bars or cafes. Huge claims for compensation from cigarette
smokers has also hit the industry. This billboard add has been targeted. The
once purely visual add is daubed with a strong message. One could argue that
the viewer did indeed decide the meaning and opt to share it. Benson &
Hedges are now associated with golf and Formula 1 racing.
14
This add is for Silk Cut cigarettes. It features a shower behind a silk
curtain and theatrical lighting. The reference here is to the film,
‘Psycho’ by Alfred Hitchcock. In the film, the victim is taking a
shower when ‘psycho’, Anthony Perkins slashes her to death. It
relies on intertextuality, a link between the film and the brand in
order for the viewer to interpret the message. The curtain is not
slashed but the intertextual link with the film implants the message
that the silk will be cut. The main colour is purple. This signifies
the association with the colour of the packet of cigarettes. The
colour purple is also associated with royalty, the death of Christ,
passion and tarts (slang for overglamourised person). Silk Cut’s target audience is young females and the gay
community. Silk Cut is associated with rugby league and yacht racing.
Most of the Silk Cut adds feature some form of cutting implement or reference to cutting or slashing. It led to a
paper being published on "Eros & Thanatos"9 by Alistair Macintosh. In the paper, he suggests a link between
the adverts, rape fantasy, violation, torture and death. The paper gained coverage in the Sunday Times and Wall
Street Journal. As a result, the add man responsible; Charles Saatchi was asked for an explanation about the
psychologically disturbing images. The shower add followed and, no further cutting or slashing images were
subsequently used. Similar to the Benson and Hedges poster campaign, it is purely visual with a strong
surrealist influence. Scissors resembling those in Salvador Dali’s work feature heavily. In his paper, Macintosh
takes a Freudian view that the cuts represent the vaginal slit. He makes a connection between the shower
curtain add and the raping and murder of psycho’s victim. In another Silk Cut add, a hand appears from behind
a curtain in a purple glove. The hand is to be seen cutting the phone wire. Mackintosh relates this to another
Hitchcock film which features a man you do not see, cutting off a phone and attempting to strangle his victim
who in turn, stabs him with a scissors.
8
N. Souther & S Newman, Creative Director’s Sourcebook, 1988, Mc Donald & Co, p314
9
www.alastairmcintosh.com

5. Silk Cut also ran a series of cinema adds which attained cult status. In one of the adverts, British soldiers at
Rawke’s Drift, were being attacked by Zulu warriors. The warrior was about to strike, he paused and took out a
packet of Silk Cut. He addressed the viewing audience asking, ‘Have you tried dee taste of dee new Silk Cut?’
The add may not have been acceptable today. Stronger regulations and stricter censorship means that an add
which generates only one complaint may be withdrawn.
An add for Cerco IT Training and Recruitment included the voiceover claims “Cerco IT Training and
Recruitment has been known for high quality, hands-on training for over 15 years” and “training centres
covering the UK”. The advert generated two complaints.
One viewer claimed that the company only had two centres. Another claimed that the company had only been
trading for three years. The Advertising Standards Authority upheld the complaints and banned the add.10
A report in the Sunday Herald suggests that the tobacco industry is on the verge of a price war as a result of the
governments ban on advertising. In his article, Mike Woodcock suggests that the industry will revert to more
surreal advertising campaigns to get around restrictions.11
The future for advertising tobacco is uncertain. Gallaher, which makes Silk Cut and Benson and Hedges, has
just signed a new sponsorship deal with the Jordan formula one team, despite the fact that the EU will outlaw
tobacco sponsorship in 2006. In October 2000, Gerard Hastings and Lyn MacFayden published a report
containing an analysis of internal documents from the Tobacco industry’s main advertising agencies. The report
contained communications between advertising people and the cigarette companies. One communication from
Benson and Hedges was blatant in its aim. It described how they required a campaign, which made more 18 to
34 year old to smoke B&H than ever. It went on to rubbish Marlboro and Camel cigarettes. It exposes Benson
and hedges relationship with the advertising industry. It demonstrates the way in which referencing to some
products is seen as beneficial. Ben Sherman, Tequila and Nike are all mentioned as positive factors. The article
seeks to differentiate between the American culture, seen as cowhands and Roy Rogers wannabees. Their
vision for the British youth is that they must pop a packet of B&H in their Brit designed shirts. The hypocrisy is
that Benson & Hedges is a subsidiary of the American Tobacco Company. The article also sets out their agenda
for the targeting of 18 to 34 year old men. They have a definite idea of the gender, age and class of person that
the imminent campaign should be directed at.
We want more 18-34 year old blokes smoking B&H than ever before. We want to see these dudes ripping-up packets of
Marlboro and Camel and treating them with the disdain that second rate, American filth deserves. For Christs sake what the
hell are people doing smoking brands that are made to be smoked by cowhands and not by the youth of the trendiest, coolest,
most happening country in the world. In many ways this brief is really a charity brief. Trying to help people recognise the
error of their ways, thinking they are being cool smoking what Roy bloody Rogers smoked and opening their eyes to the
unchallengeable truth that the coolest smoke in the world is a B&H. We want to see Great, British B&H in the Ben Sherman
shirt pockets of Brit-popped, dance-crazed, Tequila drinking, Nike kicking, Fast Show watching, Loaded reading, Babe
pulling, young gentlemen. So what we need is the coolest, most exciting, white-knuckle ride of a campaign ever 12
The need to exploit new markets requires advertisements, which target specific groups of people. The lesbian
and gay community are in the sights of the industry. The pink pound is being targeted. Benson and hedges have
been sponsors of gay pride. The gay market is seen as affluent, with disposable income. As the noose tightens,
the tobacco industry has set its sights on Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and China. 13
The advertisers are also focusing their attention on other key areas. Point of sales in shops, pubs, clubs and
colleges are all to be overhauled. The design, colour, shape, smell, and feel, etc of cigarettes and packets may
all be set to change in an increasing battle to secure sales. Targeting individuals with free offers and exclusive
branded products online is seen as a way to entrap and retain loyal customers. The tobacco industry is moving
10
www.asa.org.uk
11
www.sundayherald.com
12
www.tobacco.org
13
M. Macalister, Making a Packet - the New Tobacco Gold-rush, the Observer Magazine, 1992, 8 November

6. with the times and adapting to restrictions by finding new ways of advertising an age-old product.
Bibliography
M. Macalister, Making a Packet - the New Tobacco Gold-rush, the Observer Magazine, 1992, 8
November
N. Souther & S Newman, Creative Director’s Sourcebook, 1988, Mc Donald & Co, p234
P. Taylor, Smoke Ring - The Politics of Tobacco, 1984, Bodley Head, p29
Wei Yew, Gotcha Twice, The Art of the Billboard 2, Quon Editions, Preface
Internet Research
www.alastairmcintosh.com
www.asa.org.uk
www.kickbutt.org
www.mind-advertising.com
www.sundayherald.com
www.tobacco.org
Photographs
1, 2, 3 & 5 www.chickenhead.com
6 & 11 www.mind-advertising.com
7, www.pressbox.co.uk
8, www.cartoonstock.com
9, Creative Directors Sourcebook, p234
10, www.misterpundit.blogspot.com
4, 12, 13 & 14 www.alistairmcintosh.com