Report

Terrell WhitehurstAshley HumphriesENC 1101-0002

In the image above it is a cigarette advertisement for Kent cigarettes. It shows a man who is casually lighting a cigarette during the middle of the day in an urban area. In the text above the gentleman lighting the cigarette, it mentions that more scientist and educators smoke Kent cigarettes than any other cigarette brand. The advertisements sole purpose is to make you believe that in America intelligent people like scientists and educators smoke Kent cigarettes. Scientist and Educators are respected in most if not all communities because they are responsible for improving our future. They say it in the text above the gentlemen lighting the Kent cigarette, and to the left of the image with the two charts implying that scientist and educators prefer Kent cigarettes over other cigarette brands. Using the idea that scientist and educators prefer to smoke Kent cigarettes means that it is a smart idea for you to smoke Kent because these two highly regarded groups smoke Kent. The man in the image looks to be middle aged and in good health. Also, he is wearing business attire and with his clothing his expression gives of this cool, calm, and collective aura about himself. He is causally lighting a cigarette during the middle of the day which implies that smoking is a regular routine for him, and if you smoke Kent that you will look as cool as he does when he lights his cigarettes. He is a prop in the advertisement that is meant to resonate with men who are middle aged and smoke like him to smoke Kent cigarettes because scientist and educators smoke Kent over any other cigarette brand. Also, if a child who looks up to adults see this add he might consider smoking because of how cool they make the man in the advertisement look.

The reason I want to spoof this ad is because it doesnt tell you the truth behind smoking cigarettes. Ever since 1865 when the first cigarette advertisement was made, cigarette companies have been trying to hide the deadly side effects of cigarettes. It became so bad that in 1964 the Surgeon General of the U.S. wrote a report about the dangers of cigarette smoking. In that report he states that nicotine and tar which is in cigarettes can cause lung cancer. In 1965 the Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act was passed by congress. The act states that every cigarette pack must have a warning label that says, Cigarettes may be hazardous to your health. The government had to go to these lengths to make cigarette companies to make the user aware of the possible harm to their health if they smoke a pack a cigarettes. Since the new information about the harm of smoking cigarettes, in an effort to keep their customers buying cigarette companies came out with new brands of cigarettes with lower amounts of tar and nicotine and with improved filters to reduce the fears of smoking. Throughout the 1980s, cigarette companies competed with one another to try and make ultra low tar cigarettes. This time was known as the tar wars where many companies made many different brands of cigarettes and sold them in America. A Rapid number of people were buying these newly altered cigarettes thinking it would have less risk than the previous cigarettes. Cigarette companies will try any method to convince you that smoking is not that bad for you, and target certain groups who are more susceptible to buying cigarettes.

The above image is my anti-ad. I changed this ad by altering the words and the top of the image and telling the truth about smoking cigarettes. There are many deadly side effects to smoking like lung disease, lung cancer, and chronic bronchitis. Cigarette companies have fought for many years to try and not emphasize all the risks of smoking, but instead to push their product to certain groups who are misinformed. That is why I wanted I changed the ad in hopes that if someone who is thinking of smoking these or any kind of cigarette, they will know exactly what they are doing to their bodies.In my anti-ad I used facts to try and persuade the viewer to be sucked into buying Kent cigarettes, and to not smoke at all. Using facts which is a piece of information that is known to be true, I feel is the most powerful way to persuade someone to see your side of the story. Facts have already been tested and proven so there is no debating the legitimacy of the information and are a good informative tool so someone can know what they are buying if they are misinformed. For example, if a child was to consider starting smoking, then when they see my ad instead of the cigarette companys ad they will know how harmful smoking can be to their bodies. It would inform the child of the risks and allow him to make a more educated decision about smoking rather than the cigarettes companies who are forced to only put labels on their products and nothing more. I feel if you were to be upfront about all the risks with smoking it would cut down on the number of people who smoke. Knowing this, cigarette companies try to target groups who are not informed and younger in age to get them to start smoking. In 2012, according to the Surgeon Generals report, very few people start smoking after the age of 25 and 99% of people started smoking by the age of 18. Using that information shows that usually most smokers start young and get addicted to the nicotine and continue to smoke throughout their life and end up suffering the side effects of smoking which could potentially take their lives. That is why I find it imperative that we inform everybody, especially our young teens about the dangers of smoking so we can help them make a smarter decision that will benefit them down the road.

WORKS CITED:"14 Vintage, Sexy, And Evil Cigarette Print Ads From Decades Past."Supercompressor. 5 Dec. 2014. Web. 6 Apr. 2015. .