Introduction
Camel is an American cigarette type possessed and industrialized by the Reynolds Tobacco Enterprise and contains a mixture of Turkish and Virginia tobacco. Many surgeons prefer Camel cigarettes to any other brand (Moran et al. 5). One way used by the tobacco industry to comfort a vexed community was by including attractive images of doctors in advertisements. The argument was that if a physician with all due proficiency smokes a specific brand, the cigarettes cannot be harmful to human health. The main target of image advertisement is to publicize and create awareness of a product to ensure that the item is highly purchased for the company to make high profits. Image advertisement is preferred because it is affordable and easy to reach many viewers, and creates a wider reach of the product by the public, unlike video advertising. Image advertisement of Camel cigarettes was effective for society and the company.
Since Camels are harmless animals, the cigarettes were named after the animal to show that the cigarettes were not harmful to human health. The advertisement was done through a journal called “More Doctors Prefer Camel’s Than Any Other Cigarette,” which had pictures of doctors displayed in the article (Rossheim et al. 6). The surgeons portrayed in the cigarette advertisement were unreal because if actual doctors could be involved in the advertisement, this could lead to job loss since appearing in cigarette advertisements was illegal as per medical ethics. The pictures always presented a prudent, moral, and considerate doctor who willingly participated in the smoldering routine.
Specific artists were selected and dressed up like real doctors to advertise Camel cigarettes to convince the readers that the cigarette was innocuous. The public did not actively protest because of the cigarette legalization and selling due to the appearance of medical professionals in the images (Moran et al. 7). The advertisements were made through therapeutic magazines like the American Medical Association, an institute that cooperated with the tobacco company for many years. The public demanded that articles be published to clarify the health threats of Camel cigarettes (Rossheim et al. 8). The publishing was not done immediately, but later people were still educated on the effects of smoking.
The consistency in advertisements with doctors’ pictures while smoking convinced many people to start smoldering (Moran et al. 7). To prove the “More Doctors smoke Camel cigarettes” entitlement, Reynolds paid for investigations to be done during medicinal treaties using two approaches (Rossheim et al. 8). The tactics included doctors being given unpaid boxes of different cigarette varieties at tobacco company closets. Therefore, the surgeons were asked to mention their favorite type or what they carried in their pockets upon leaving the showroom, whereby most of the doctors said that their favorite cigarette was Camel (Moran et al. 10). The public was not educated on the cigarette’s health effects because the company was after creating awareness hence convincing many people to buy the cigarettes.
Effectiveness of the Advert
The image advertisement was effective because of various reasons. The main aim of the advertisement was to make people who had never smoked get used to it. In the past, many people in society wished to engage in smoking but feared the side effects of cigarettes. However, when Camel advertisement was made, most people believed that the brand was the best and many individuals were convinced to buy the cigarettes (Moran et al. 10). In 1949, Camel aired a journal that attracted many readers known as “More Doctors Prefer Camel’s Than Any Other Cigarette” (Rossheim et al. 7). The article made many smokers and the public trust the brand (Moran et al. 10). The advert had an attractive beginning in white and black background portraying handsome doctors smoking while soft and convincing writings surrounded the whole article. The writings in the article informed the readers that all surgeons in all nations in a survey mentioned Camel as their favorite brand and recommended the patients give it a try (Moran et al. 10). Camel aims to ensure that its products are highly purchased despite the age and gender of the consumers.
People desire to do what everyone is most pleased with. The article’s viewers were attracted by the beauty of the pictures in the image (Moran et al. 10). A woman sees an image of a medical consultant who is mainly identified for good education, income, and now handsomeness. The pictures make women feel that marrying men who smoke Camel will make females as successful as the man in the advertisement. In the journal, men also see a beautiful woman with an elegant appearance and think a lady smoking a Camel cigarette would resemble the one in the picture. This kind of human thinking could then persuade many people to make an unplanned purchase of the cigarette (Rossheim et al. 7). The advertisement targeted adults and elderly teens because tobacco use was allowed for most minors, depending on the country. The public was educated more about the advantages of smoking Camel over other brands leading to many purchases hence improved sales and maximized profits.
Camel advertisements targeted selling cigarettes to the general public resulting in increased profits. Smokers who were using different cigarettes changed their minds and started using Camel (Rossheim et al. 7). Some smokers believe that when one uses Camel cigarettes, the individual’s life changes and resembles the images of people appearing on top of the Camel (Moran et al. 15). People smoked cigarettes without having a second thought that the pictures were just for advertising purposes. The public believed Camel cigarettes were not harmful to human health, just like animal Camel. The image advertisement made the brand popular among smokers and non-smokers (Moran et al. 10).
The advertisement was effective because the attention of many people was drawn, and everybody was interested in learning more about cigarettes. Any person who came across the advertisement, whether a smoker or not, wanted to know more about why Camel was being advertised. Upon seeing that the brand was harmless, unlike other cigarettes, every smoker was ready to try it. The advertisement conjured different reactions in public (Moran et al. 11). Some public members believed in the brand because the doctors were used for advertising the cigarette. The advertisement increased the public’s engagement, whereby the viewers shared the pictures with friends who did not see the journal personally.
The advertisement helped create memories for the public, smolders, and non-smokers. When a person sees an image, the individual remembers what was being seen in the picture company (Moran et al. 15). The memories help an individual to continue buying the same brand seen in the images. The advertisement made viewers have a positive perception of Camel cigarettes. The smokers were convinced of the advantages of smoking Camel and believed that the brand was harmless compared to others. The company was finally well recognized by society, had improved sales, and increased profits.
Author’s Opinion on the Advertisement
The advert helped to create awareness and attraction of Camel cigarettes to the public. The brand was familiar to the public, leading to increased product purchases and hence increased sales and profits for the company (Moran et al. 11). The appearance of surgeons in the advertisement left many people convinced that different professionals can smoke cigarettes. The cigarettes were named after the Camel, a harmless animal, to demonstrate that the cigarettes were not harmful to consumers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the advertisement proved to be highly effective, as Camel cigarettes were named after camels to illustrate that the cigarettes were harmless, just like the animals. The company was well known because of the consistency in image advertisement, and they used picture advertisement that was made attractive by black and white pictures of doctors displayed while smoking. For surgeons, it is illegal to be involved in such advertisements since this could lead to job loss, but the pictures of the physicians seen on the front pages of the journals convinced viewers that Camel is harmless because society believes that doctors know the cigarettes’ side effects and would not smoke them if they were not harmless. Camel was advertised in journals to create public awareness about the product for individuals to purchase and improve the company’s income and profits. The advert persuaded many people to purchase the product, increasing the company’s sales. Therefore, Camel’s advertisement was effective, as the company used the images of doctors to change the way people perceived cigarettes.
Works Cited
Moran, Meghan Bridgid et al. “Associations between Exposure and Receptivity to Branded Cigarette Advertising and Subsequent Brand Preference among US Young Adults“. Nicotine &Amp; Tobacco Research, vol. 22, no. 6, 2019, pp. 1030-1035. Oxford University Press (OUP), Web.
Rossheim, Matthew E. et al. “Cigarette Use Before and After the 2009 Flavored Cigarette Ban“. Journal of Adolescent Health, vol. 67, no. 3, 2020, pp. 432-437. Elsevier BV, Web.