As a kid I always got such a kick out of the signs reading "Eat Here Get Gas" because well, I was a kid and they were funny. Okay, I still find them funny when I see them, only now I have to figure the people who put the signs up surely get the joke. They couldn't possibly be as dim witted as to not notice what this says about their establishment. Well, okay...maybe I give people too much credit. Which brings me to....
I found this cigarette ad in a July 1969 Ladies Home Journal. Cigarette ads have always tried one of two methods to sell these damn fire sticks:
- make the product appear sexy or
- make the product sound healthy.
For a long time both worked. I'm not sure now what works, but I think Nascar has got a lot to do with it. Which brings me to cigarettes, cars, and clueless people buying a used car.
There's simply so much that could be written about the absurdity of this ad. What exactly are they trying to sell? It's not sex appeal. And none of these people look particularly healthy. The woman is just a "carrier" for the product. The two men, the creepy car salesman and the equally "This is my little woman" husband, are the smokers. And they're talking about gas? Forgive me, but was anyone awake at the ad agency when they had this meeting? If this is what was chosen, what was turned down? And would you really say to a friend, "Here, try one of my gas-trap filter cigarettes." Wouldn't your friend look at you like you're crazy?
Click on image to see it larger.
My sympathy to anyone who chose advertising. Most of you have probably lost the tips of your tongues from biting them off when a client goes for the dumbest concept known to the world.
"Save the planet. Stop global warming. Smoke Larks." Makes sense to me. Quick, somebody draw up the storyboard for the 15 second spot.
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