Week 3 EOC: Tobacco Advertisements

    1. Determine the scenario: What happens in this frame?

         In this advertisement the tobacco company, Philip Morris is trying to relate its new product to the feeling a mother has for her new born child.

    2. What is the setting? What are the conditions?

        The setting of this advertisement is meant to show an intimate and special moment between a mother and her child. They want to show its customers that a child is to its mother as a cigarette is to its customer, and that it is a special relationship.

    3. Who are the people or groups?

         The people in the advertisement are a mother and her new born child.

    4. What is their point of view around this specific experience?

        Philip Morris point of view on their new product is that it is a softer gentler taste then their other products.

    5. What are their goals?

        Their goals are to satisfy its customers in a new why. They want them to "enjoy the gentle pleasure, the fresh unfiltered flavor, of this new cigarette, born gentle, then refined to special gentleness in the making."

    6. What are their assumptions? What are their perceptions?

         Philip Morris assumption to their new product is that it will satisfy you and create a strong emotional relationship between you and your cigarette.

    7. Are there conflicts? Is there cooperation?

         The conflict of this advertisement is that the company compared their product to a mother and her healthy new born child. Another conflict that this advertisement portrays is that it is okay for parents to smoke around their children let alone their new born children.

    8. What are the outcomes?

            Back in 1956, when this advertisement was launched it wasn’t uncommon to smoke in front of your children and then hug them. Smoking back then wasn’t as restricted as it is now and the people in the 50s weren’t really informed about the health problems associated with smoking cigarettes. So this advertisement wasn’t much of a shock back then, but when people see it now we consider it wrong and unethical.

This is an advertisement that I found to be unethical. Ralph Lauren used this model in its advertisements but the ad on the left was Photoshopped wrongly. It portrayed the model to look as if she had an eater disorder. It showed that the brand Ralph Lauren supports the stereotypes of the fashion industry, that all models don't eat. Although models are skinny it doesn't mean they don't eat. The fashion industry is trying to fight against this reputation that it accumulated over the years and this so called "mistake" on Ralph Lauren's behalf is not helping in the least. The editors of this advertisement said that they didn't realize how distorted they had made the model look, but I think that that was untrue. How can you not realize this distortion?! Plus don't advertisements pass many eyes before it is published or launched so how come no one pointed out this problem before it went into the public eye?