Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Week 3 EOC: Thank you for smoking

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1. In this advertisement for Phillip Morris cigarettes from 1956, a mother is seen cradling her sleeping baby with a sweet smile on her face. A pack of the cigarettes can be seen on the table next to her. The baby appears to have just woken up and needed its mothers comfort.

2 and 3. The mother and her child are at home. The mother is in her nightgown and the baby is just in a diaper. It’s a peaceful, quiet setting.

4. Even though she is obviously a new mother and she isn’t currently smoking a cigarette in the advertisement, the woman appears to have no problem smoking around the child. The pack is right next to her beside an ashtray. It looks like she will put the baby back to bed and light one right there while watching her child sleep. The cigarette company is trying to make the product appear harmless and like they fit perfectly into the lives of their customers, always there to comfort the smoker and make them feel better.

5. The goals of the mother are to put her baby to bed safely and securely so that she may then enjoy a cigarette. The goals of the company are to make the cigarettes look appealing to everyone, even new mothers with babies. They want their customers to understand that they can smoke a gentle cigarette and have no fear of harm from doing so. This ad also introduces a new package that the company has adopted for their product.

6. The mother assumes and perceives the product to be safe and gentle. She sees the cigarette as comforting, good tasting, and completely fine for her to enjoy.

7. The conflict today with this ad is that we now know cigarettes are very harmful and would never be used in front of a baby. The fact that something so harmful is next to a sweet innocent child is a conflict of morals for society today.

8. The outcome of this ad is that the child will go to sleep and the mother will smoke her cigarette, knowing that her child is safe and protected and feeling completely at ease with her decision to smoke.

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