EPQ Essay: "How has the cigarette advertisement changed for the past 100 years as illustrated by three posters?"

of 37 Yordan Dimitrov
How has the cigarette advertisement changed for
the past 100 years as illustrated by three posters?
Contents
Introduction 1
Research 2
1920s 3
1980s 4
2000s 5
Production 6
1920s poster 6
1980s poster 20
2000s poster 27
Final pieces 36
Evaluation 37
Introduction
Extended Project Qualification has to be something that interests you, something that
inspires you and motivates you to achieve the best possible final product.
When wondering upon what to choose for a question of my project, I looked at writing
an essay (which most candidates do) and creating an artefact.
The artefact seemed to interest me more as less people do it and I have a very
strong interest for photography, photo manipulation and marketing.
After summing up my interests, I decided to combine them together. An artefact
based on advertisement, which however had to be something controversial...the idea
of advertising the same product in different ways captured my attention.
Therefore, I chose to do cigarette advertising and show that change; I decided to
base my research on a particular period of time, a hundred years, starting from
1920s to 2000s.
What drew me towards cigarette advertising was that it gives me the opportunity to
explore further techniques in photography and photo manipulation. There is a wide
variety of adverts which could be used for a source of inspiration and quite a few of
them, specifically the once after 2000 were done in a very clever way (an example of
which would be Silver Cut’s adverts which never featured cigarettes, but always
implemented the brand’s name) and of course the controversy that a single product
can start with being the most fashionable and fall down to being almost like a taboo.

Research
I found out that the tobacco companies went through two phases: “First the tobacco
companies fought for new markets. Then, they fought against health issues and
ensuring restrictions, while also trying to find ways to retain their appeal.”1
Companies such as Benson & Hedges, Camel, Hamlet, Lucky Strike, Marlboro and
Silk Cut were innovative. Making the right type of advertisement for the right time and
targeting the right type of audiences. An example of good targeting would be Lucky
Strike’s campaign “Reach for a Lucky instead of a Sweet” which “Not only did the
candy industry rise in protest, but a number of critics suggested that American
Tobacco was using ads to solicit youngsters.”2
, the targeted audience were primarily
young females. The concept of using cigarettes as a way of losing weight easier,
staying fashionable and producing a product that “It’s toasted” increased United
States’ consumption from “750 per capita in 1920 to 3500 per capita in 1945”3
, a
dramatic increase.
4 5 6
7
1
20th
Advertising by Dave Saunders (1999) – page 122
2
http://www.cigarettecentury.com/gallery4.html - “The Cigarette Century” (book’s official website)
3
http://brainhealthhacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/tobacco-use1.jpg - Brain Health Hacks‘s article about
tracking record in cancer research.
4
One of Marlboro’s famous “Come to where the flavor is” advents
http://www.buycigarettes.eu/gallery/default/original/28506/Marlboro_ad.jpg?1365593605
5
Lucky Strikes advert from 1929
http://tobacco.stanford.edu/tobacco_main/images_body.php?token1=fm_img1095.php
6
Virginia Slims Advert from 1999 http://tobacco.stanford.edu/tobacco_main/main.php

1920s
8
Aside of those key facts and statistics, the
marketing of this addictive product varied.
Adverts varied in terms of their presentation,
specifically there is a significant difference in
styles.
Back in the 1920s most logos used to be
rounded, mainly inside a circle. The fonts were
rounded and no health warnings were shown
on the adverts themselves.
Key elements were: open cigarette box,
motivating
slogan and a
fashionable
female or
attractive
male.
9
7
Silk Cut’s most Famous Advert from 1983
http://171.67.24.121/tobacco_web/images/tobacco_ads/recent_strategies/silk_cut/large/silkcut_50.jpg
8
Camel poster from the 1920s http://www.sinclairstudio.es/vintage-me-oh-my/
9
Lucky Strike poster from the 1920s http://www.dotcigarettes.com/lucky-strike

1980s
10 11
During the 1980s things changed, health concerns were now more of an issue for the
cigarette companies, as from the 1960s cigarette TV ads were forbidden.
Tiny font size warnings started to appear in the bottom of posters. In terms of styles,
the macho male look took advantage over the market, especially Marlboro’s “Come
to where the flavour is.” campaign from the 1970s which featured a classic American
cowboy with horse and a cigarette in his mouth.
The cigarette box remained shown, but now the box was closed. The design of most
posters featured simple logo in capital letters and a slogan which implemented a
sense of power; of knowing what you want and being different, perhaps even
outstanding.
10
Barclay Cigarette 1980 Ad – The pleasure is back http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/tobacco-ads-1980s/6
11
Winston Cigarette 1976 Ad - Men of Winston - I know my taste
http://www.bambootrading.com/proddetail.asp?prod=4099

2000s
12 13
2000s were a new type of era. Cigarettes did not tend to appear, or at least not take
significant part of the adverts. The main focus was on the company’s name and the
idea of promoting the product by cheating the system i.e. using the 1920s concept of
being elite woman in order to promote cigarettes.
The styles of most adverts featured a simple large text and key element was that the
models do no longer hold or smoke a cigarette.
12
Virginia Slims Advert from 1999 http://virginia-slims-cigarettes.blogspot.co.uk/2008/03/virginia-slims-
cigarettes-ads.html
13
Virginia Slims Advert from 2000s http://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete/semiotics_and_ads/BritaWangerSmall.jpg

Production
1920s poster
After consideration, I decided to create an unexciting brand and call it “BOSS”,
representing the often implemented impression in consumers that cigarettes are for
“macho” type of men and women with strong character who “stand out” of the crowd.
To create the 1920s poster, I had to do a significant amount of photo manipulation
because of its vintage look.
For this specific poster, there were three different photoshoots, this is because I
started off with the concept of a housewife (photoshoots one and two) and developed
it into a different one, female fame.
First photoshoot - Taken on 24.7.13 with Nikon D80. 50mm lens. ISO 100. f/6.3
Number of photographs taken: 3 (can be seen below)
Final Edited version:
To edit the following photograph: lowered saturation to minimum, increased depth of
the image and added a vintage effect. On top of those, I added the BOSS logo and a
motivational slogan “Only real women know why”

Second photoshoot - Taken on 12.8.13 with Nikon D80. 50mm lens. ISO 1000. f/4.
Number of photographs taken: 35. (can be seen below)
Purposely, I chose not to go any further with the following photographs as they
seemed too unnatural and the outcome of the final product would have been similar
to the first failure of attempt.
Next, I looked further into the published posters of the time and thought that perhaps
something different would be more suitable, or at least a front view of a woman
(referring to the first photoshoot) and targeting non smokers; the following marketing
technique was usually done in cinema with famous celebrities such as Marilyn
Monroe.
Viewing a number of online tutorials on how to create a “pin up poster” led me to the
conclusion that such type of artwork will be very suitable for my 1920s poster.
Howard Pinsky’s tutorial14
on YouTube seemed most useful; even though it was
based on 1950s style of posters it was very similar and suitable to the earlier adverts
and especially the 1920s.
The third and finally successful photo shoot was done in a forest. The model was
Elitsa Naumova; she matches the style of the time and is in fact a popular local
singer.
I asked her to wear retro style dress and to have her hair as short as possible in
order to achieve the wanted vintage look.
14
“1950’s Pin Up: Photoshop Retouching Tutorial” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKzxR-eIG6E

Third photo shoot - taken 13.8.13 with Nikon D80, 18mm – 55mm as well as 50mm lens. ISO – 100 f/9
Number of photographs taken: 300 (see Appendix 1)
After a carefully selecting the best photographs, I chose to use the following one:
This photograph has that cheesy smile and the
model is holding a cigarette in her right hand
with a suitable body position.
To turn this photograph into a Pin Up style of a
poster, I decided to use Adobe Photoshop
CS5.115
In order to turn this photograph into a 1920s
advert many modifications had to be made.
15
Adobe Photoshop CS 5.1 by Adobe Systems http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html

However the almost completed poster
turned out to be unsuccessful first editing
attempt because of the fact that she looks
unnatural, as if sitting in the air.
The cutting out was not done properly as
you can see (the bad looking edges
around her head and her legs).
The shadow was placed just fine, yet there
is a lot to be done in order to improve the
look of the poster.
After consideration, I decided to redo the
entire poster again, but use another image
instead.
The same photo manipulations were used
for creating both posters. (one above and
final one)
First of all, the model had to be cut out of the photograph, to do this, used the “Quick
Selection” tool.

Used the “Refine Edge” in order to give the layer a more natural look.
After a number of changes including changing the background and converting some
of the layers to “Smart Objects” in order to preserve the right to edit, I moved on to
making the background “Texturized” (found in the Filter section). The texture was set
on Canvas type, Scaling was set to 80% and the Relief was set to 2. In addition to
those, another modification was made. Adding a “Spatter” Filter with Spray Radius of
25 and Smoothness of 15 improved the image’s background significantly.

A new layer was created and parts of the image were coloured in black with the use
of the “Brush Tool” and were then overlayed
in order to achieve the following effect:

In order to improve the looks of the image, I created two copies of the main layer
(one on which the model is) – one to be used as a shadow and other for
improvement of the photo quality.
To modify the first layer, I lowered the saturation and added “vibrance”.
In order to turn the model into a painting like image, I used the “Poster Edges” Filter
with “Edge Thickness” of 1, “Edge Intensity” of 1 and “Posterization” of 2.

Added Noise in order to make the photograph look even more authentic.
Turned the “Model” layer into a “Smart Object” and painted it in black; this was done
in order to get the shadow effect.

The shadow was placed appropriately.
“Gaussian Blur” Filter with radius of 6,0 pixels and a half black, half transparent
gradient from the “Gradient Tool” to improve the look of the shadow.

The image was then cropped in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom16
and the following settings were applied:
Exposure – 0,20. Brightness – 15 & Contrast – (-88).
Afterwards, the image was edited in Snapseed17
with the following settings:
Main focus on face with lowered “Vignette” and higher “Centre Brightness”.
Brightness was reduced by 10%, Contrast by 20%, Ambiance by 10% and the
warmth was increased by 25%.
Within the Tilt – Shift option: The Transition was done diagonally with 40% transition,
5% blur and Contrast set to minimum.
16
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 by Adobe Systems http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html
17
Snapseed, originally created by Nik Software, purchased by Google in 2013

To add the slogan and a cigarette box, went back to Photoshop CS5
And used the “Horizontal Type Tool” to add text with Font: Kunstler Script – Regular.
Size 240pt – Sharp and “Opacity” of 60%.
In terms of the box, I decided to cut out another box from an original 1920s advert.
To do this, used Adobe Photoshop Elements18
18
Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 by Adobe Systems http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html

To cut the cigarette box out, I used the “Polygonal Lasso Tool”
Removed the Camel logo and picture, then replaced it with the BOSS logo.

Changed the text Style to Onyx, Regular, Size 84.48pt and added Wrap Text with
+49% Bend & Vertical Distortion of +14%.
Then added two proportional circles with Opacity of 70%.
And a Star Glow effect on the box in order to give it a smooth shadow.

In addition, I decided to change the slogan to “Boss is my diet” in order to get closer
to the 1920s typical target advertising, which aims to persuade female non smokers
that smoking can be their way of losing weight.

1980s poster
The main concept: Creating slightly modern poster that represents smoking as a
habit for strong man, often cowboys in America.
Taken on 10.7.13 with Nikon D80. 50mm lens. ISO 100 f/5.6
The slogan must be memorable, similar to
Wisdom’s “I know my taste.” Or Barclay’s “The
pleasure is back.” I thought using a slogan such
as “There’s always time for a cigarette.” To
show how the cigarette addiction has been
prioritised and seems like coffee, done on daily
basis.
Yet, I preferred to use Wisdom’s “I know my
taste” as it clearly represents the macho male
concept and the passion about the brand.
To edit the photograph, I started off with:
Lowering the brightness by 20%.
Lowering contrast by 60%
Lowering saturation by 3%
Increasing warmth by 30%

In addition:
Increased saturation by 80%, increased brightness by 10%, increased Vignette by
50% and increased style strength by 15%
(The modifications were done in Snapseed)
Afterwards, imported the image to Photoshop Elements

Added a text slogan – font style: Copperplate Gothic Bold – Regular, size 126,1pt. –
White
Then added a black line with the use of the “Rectangle tool” and made it semi
transparent by lowering the Opacity to about 90%

Added another small line, again with the use of the “Rectangle tool”
In order to create the box:
Created a white rectangular box with the use of the “Rectangle tool.”
Added a polygon shape with the use of the “Polygon tool” and made it look like a
diamond.
Added a text layer “BOSS” – font: Copperplate Gothic Bold – Regular dark in purple.
Added a second text layer “GOLD” – font: High Tower Text – Regular in dark yellow.
Applied a shadow effect to the box.
Underlined the BOSS Logo and made it a bit bigger.

Added a polygon shape with the use of the “Polygon Tool”
Added a shadow Effect to the polygon.
In order to make it more relevant to the 1980s, a health warning had to be included
within the poster.
To add the warning: Created a grey rectangular

At the time, warnings were introduced to inform the smokers about the dangers of
smoking such as “WARNING: Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide.”
However, there were no significant laws to say how much of the poster the warning
should take and how easy to spot it should be; therefore advertisers featured the
health notice just for securing themselves against a possible fine from the
government.
Added the warning:

To complete the image, I moved the layers by a small amount.

2000s poster
Concept: 2000s beautiful celebrity female
Photo shoot - taken on 14.7.13 with Nikon D80. 18-55mm lens. ISO 640. f/4

I chose to use this photograph:
As it has the exact look that I’ve been looking for, but my main concern was to give it
more style so that the photograph looks more professional and does not remind the
viewer of some “cheap woman” but a woman who looks beautiful and knows how to
remain on her high heels, a concept we saw earlier with the 1920s poster.
Editing:
The following presents were added in Photoshop Lightroom to convert the image to
black and white and bright the background (whiten the walls)

Then increased the brightness and lowered the saturation on her face in order to
make it stand out more.

Imported the photograph to Photoshop CS5
Imported the cigarette box layer from the 1980s poster and deleted three of the
layers (The two text layers and the rectangular shape layer), leaving the polygon.
This was done in order to keep a consisting housing style.
As you can see the logos went through three stages over the past 100 years. First
they were based around a circle, and then they became more formal, with sharp font
styles and later turned into simple one shape objects with a logo inside.

The fonts style went from sharp to light.
Changed the colour of the BOSS text layer to white and took off the underline.

Slim cigarettes gained a lot of popularity, increasing Virginia Slims’, market share
from 1.75% (3.9% of all female smokers) in 1978 to 3.1% (nearly 7% of female
smokers) in 1989.19
I thought that the 2000 advert should be about BOSS’s Slims.
The new Slims text layer has font style of “Cataneo BT” – Regular – 72pt. Bright blue.
19
Market Share of Virginia Slims http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Slims#Market_share

Then centered the layer containing the logo at the middle. In order to be exact, I
made sure the ruler is displayed.

The health concerns became more of an issue. Therefore it was necessary to have a
warning sign, which could be seen easily and draws attention.
To create the warning sign: Created two rectangular shapes with the “Rectangular
Tool” one black and inside it, a smaller white one.
Then added the popular “SMOKING KILLS” notice.

And placed it on the right side in order to prevent interference with the logo or the
photograph itself.
It is relevant to the time as it is more obvious, yet it doesn’t take significant space of
the poster. This is because no exact laws were introduced at the time to make sure
that the warnings were taking exact percentage of the advert.
It just had to be seen clearly.

FINAL PIECES
All posters were then printed onto A2 (420mm x 594mm)

Evaluation
Between 1920s and 2000s the cigarette advertisement changed. There were small
and major changes.
In particular, the concept of female celebrity role model remained strong part of the
industry. The fashionable look and strong sense of passion in each advert continued
to attract the consumer’s attention. “In 1960, about 10% of all cigarette
advertisements appeared in popular women’s magazines, and by the 1985 cigarette
adverts increased by 34%.”20
Women were very important to the industry.
The nicotine industry lowered the information failure by informing consumers about
the negative effects of cigarettes. Health warnings became an important part of the
“whole picture”, the most commonly used method of educating the consumer is
through warning labels, however according to a recently published article by the
Medical Daily: “Psychological scientists have found that under certain conditions, a
clear warning may be interpreted by consumers as an admirable attempt at honesty,
thus boosting the demand of the item it is intended to control.”21
i.e. visual imagery
may seem like a better solution than “SMOKING KILLS”.
In terms of the posters I produced for the Extended Project Qualification, I managed
to complete every piece of the project on time and am happy with the way in which
the project developed. Specifically with the 1920s poster, the number of unsuccessful
attempts in terms of both the photoshoots and the photo manipulation made me work
harder and achieve the desired final product. For the 1980s poster, my ideas
remained the same right from the start, so no particular changes were made apart
from adding 10 years to the time period in order to give a wider range. Last but not
least, the 2000s poster…The poster ended up looking very stylish and charming, the
only thing which would have made it better would be to increase the size of the
health warning, which I decided not to do mainly because of the overall structure of
the artifact.
Word count: 3 078
20
Highlights: Marketing Cigarettes to Women
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2001/highlights/marketing/ by CDC
21
“ Why Warning Labels May Increase Cigarette Sales” Article http://www.medicaldaily.com/why-warning-
labels-may-increase-cigarette-sales-psychological-scientists-explain-how-side-effect by: John Ericson in
Medical Daily

EPQ Essay: "How has the cigarette advertisement changed for the past 100 years as illustrated by three posters?"

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EPQ Essay: "How has the cigarette advertisement changed for the past 100 years as illustrated by three posters?"