The title is self-explanatory, no? So here we go.
1. This one upsets me the most, for some reason. And it puts to rest that myth that older times were more prudish. This is pretty daring. SANTA!
2. And yet another Santa ad, this one with a real Norman Rockwell feel.
3. I didn’t think that old-time Madison Avenue guys were sophisticated enough to use subtle porn imagery. But here we see the precursor to what thousands of digital natives have learned as second nature: the porn facial.
4. Back in the day, consumers actually believed in the health benefits of milder cigs versus the harsher ones. It may have been taking advantage of ethnocentricity: foreign cigarettes were reputed to be harsh and foul-smelling.
5. How does ‘toasting’ tobacco make it safer? And the word ‘toasted’ makes it sound breakfast-y and sweet-smelling, like bacon or muffins. Well-played, Lucky Strike!
6. Comparing the launch of a new cigarette with the thrill of being a first-time mother? Why the heck not? Incidentally, can you imagine the artist who worked so diligently in producing all this beautiful work? The baby’s back in particular is very vivid and perfect, even if the mom is far too made up to be a first-time mother. Unless she had a nanny to take the new baby while she has a smoke.
7. I don’t even know what ‘over-smoked’ means. Except that that feeling makes you want to beat your child, and makes him want wear a sad hat.
8. For the well-endowed smoker, un-effected by the tobacco-induced narrowing of arteries that causes a limp noodle. Look at her marvel at the long straight cigarette! Yeah Baby!
9. Sexy seventies guy want you to enjoy his life as much as he does. You know, he’s probably someone famous – those eyes and that lovely head of hair look familiar.
10. This is the best one, and I’ve saved if for last. The wife of a Monopoly millionaire discovers her kids are suffering from Smoker’s Dyspepsia! And that makes them want to leave the house and visit the Blenkinsops! Greys – for helping your children ease into the joys of alcoholism and lung cancer!
