Smoke Camels Advertising Techniques

This presentation aims to break down and evaluate the techniques used in the presented two advertisements for Camel cigarettes and how they positioned their target audience to respond.

The images presented are just two of many, created between 1940 and 1949 by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in the “More Doctors Smoke Camels” campaign advertising Camels cigarettes. Both images are very much the same in many ways and I chose to present both as they each are very good examples of how diction, body language and image techniques are used to convince viewers that the products being sold to them is worth what it is advertised to be.

In image one, on the note posited next to the ‘doctor’ we read-

"The doctor is a scientist, diplomat, and a friendly

Even though the concept behind a doctor encouraging smoking was bad, little protest was heard from the medical community about the advertisements, perhaps because the images showed them in a highly favourable sense, someone who the majority which was the middle class could relate and get along with, doctors really valued this sense of acceptance.. These type of ads regularly appeared in medical journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, an organization which for decades work together with the Tabaco industry. But the big push to shine light on the health hazards with smoking also did arrive later, putting an end to these ads.

In the majority of these advertisements, the "More Doctors" campaign slogan was included alongside other popular Camel campaigns such as "T-Zone, 'T’ for Throat, ‘T’ for Taste'- which is a perfect example of alliteration used in advertising.

Though not included as handouts, in order to keep them to a minimum, within the "More Doctors" campaign, a story can be told through the series of