Analysis of Three Ads- Essay: Anti-Smoking

Erin Molello

English101

Analyzing Ad Campaigns Essay

Anti-Smoking

In today’s society you are constantly hearing about the consequences of cigarettes, that they cause cancer, rot your teeth, cause premature wrinkling, and many more things that in the hype of wanting to be beautiful many would not desire, but yet why are people dismissing these problem? These ads work together to try to awaken people by providing visual aids, showing people the consequence your body faces every time you give in to the bad habit of picking up a cigarette.

The ad in figure one features a man smoking a cigarette. The background is faded with the smoke from his cigarette, allowing the man smoking to be the main interest and what catches viewer’s eyes. The color scheme in this ad campaign is very neutral, except for the “mutation” sitting on the cigarette which is a redish/pinky flesh color, allowing this to be the only vibrant color in the ad makes views eyes go straight to it when first seeing the ad. The faint but still prominent smoke line coming off the cigarette, right above the so called mutation, runs right next to the words in this campaign, allowing the audience to first look at the mutation and then follow the path of smoke to be informed of what they are looking at. The words “Every 15 cigarettes you smoke cause a mutation that can become cancer.” This sentence allows the viewers to then realize this redish/pinky flesh is actually a mutation that is potentially inside your body from cigarettes, informing the reader that this ad is indeed an anti-smoking campaign. This ad campaign is intended for smokers and is used to show the harsh consequences of smoking that most people are oblivious to. In today’s society something commonly said is that cigarettes lead to many types of cancer, a main one being lung cancer. But allowing the audience to have a visual aid of what could potentially be in their body due to this bad habit, is a very powerful way of getting the point across. This ad is obviously focused around the mutation of the cigarette implying a problem in today’s society that many might not know, then to the right the words “Search ‘SmokeFree’ for free quitting support.” implies a solution for the people struggling with the problem of smoking. 

At first glance; an everyday, normal looking teenager girl is what to be seen in figure 2. She’s not a superstar, you don’t know her name, she’s not incredibly gorgeous to the point that the audience is aweing over her, she’s a normal girl, she could be the person next to you on the bus, or she could be you. She is someone the audience is able to relate to. But then a second look is taken and you see the hook through her lip, she’s been caught, she is being reeled in. Her facial expressions and body posture show her being distressed and in pain. Look into her eyes and you see sadness, lost hope, as if she has given up and is excepting her fate, she believes since she has already been caught there is no hope for her. The attended audience for this ad campaign is the everyday person who has lost hope due to being caught in the vicious cycle of this bad habit; the habit which leads to needing “… over five thousand cigarettes a year.” as we learn from the words in this ad campaign. Smokefree, the company responsible for this ad intends for their targeted audience to appeal to it through emotions. When looking at this ad the many emotions shown by the girl are very noticeable. Her hair is tied back allowing you to see her face yet she has no prominent features which would make you compare her to others, they do not display her as a girl with her own identity but a girl who could be anyone, the targeted audience is to look at this ad and see themselves in it. Then with the words stated on the ad the viewers come to the realization that they are affected by this just like any other person, that they as well as this girl are being stripped of their own identity, becoming no more than a statistic that states something they need. They do not possess the choice anymore, they don’t get to decide if they just want it, no, they “…need over five thousand cigarettes a year” because they too, are hooked. “Get unhooked”, the next thing written on the ad followed by a number to call and a website to visit, this is how Smokefree portrays that they not only want to help people acknowledge their problems but help them get passed them and help the world become a smoke free place.

The ad in figure three features a lit cigarette hanging over a clear ash tray, the edges of this picture are darkened in order to help bring attention to the middle of the image. The harsh red color is what first catches the viewers eye in this prominently neutral color scheme. The slightly disturbing take of human blood falling in clumps out of the cigarette, which is obviously not trying to portray the natural consistency of human blood, is a bit of an upsetting and uncomfortable image to look at. Black clumps appear throughout but mainly tend to stay on the outer edges of the splattered blood. Looking closely, you see what looks like to be normal blood compiled into the mess of grimy dirt and toxins which are trying to take the form of blood. But you can notice the difference between the two, your body can notice the difference. This mess of dirt and toxins infused together isn’t what your body needs, this sickening image of what is in your body and the fact that “…every time you smoke…” these toxins build up more and more in your blood, isn’t that enough to help viewers realize they have a problem? That smoking is harming you not after 10 or 100 cigarettes but after one after “…Every time you smoke..”.  Well this was exactly Smokefree’s intensions when making this ad. Using a gruesome but honest visual aid to allow their targeted audience of smokers to really be informed of what they are doing to themselves; the words stated simple and plain “Every time you smoke your blood gets thick and dirty with toxins” as a fact to awaken those who are blind to the consequence of this specific action they choose to take. The ad states after “search smokefree” in order to further help their targeted audience with their unhealthy addiction.

Three ad campaigns; a mutation that can cause cancer, the need for cigarettes, and the thick dirty toxins you inhale which then consumes and transforms your blood. Smokefree the promoter and creator of these three ad campaigns has a clear theme; uncomfortable, disgusting, even gruesome in a way images, visual aids, not just another voice in the crowd telling you its bad, but an image showing you the consequences. Awakening one to the realization that it is happening to you, that the bad habit of smoking is taking over and transforming your life and if you let it continue… well the ads don’t mention that but maybe now the smokers will have more reasons to listen to the voices.