Advertising: Analysis Of The RJ Reynolds Cigarette Company

1100 Words3 Pages

“You’ve got what it takes – Salem Spirit” (Salem Lights). The RJ Reynolds Cigarette Company makes this daring claim, and it certainly sounds enticing. After all, the advertising poster depicts a group of young and vibrant professionals spending energy and fun filled time swinging on red balloons over the crisp lake, definitely experiencing the good life after having consumed this product. Even though the art of advertising has existed successfully for thousands of years in order to promote goods and services, the methods utilized have evolved significantly. Originally, vendors merely raised awareness of the existence of their offerings, but in modern times corporations actually distort the value of a product. As the Federal Trade Commission …show more content…

They swing on soft, inflatable balloons above the prickling cool water while playing an entertaining game, laughing and experiencing camaraderie all the while. By doing so, the advertiser hopes to invoke feelings of friendship, being in tune with nature, and being a member of this adventurous group. The lines implied in the image then bring the viewer’s eyes in a gentle zig-zag motion to the slogan and then finally to the packs of cigarettes. This sweeping motion replicates the swinging movement that the young men and women experience in the center of the composition, once again suggesting that the viewer should become one with this image. The slightly asymmetric spatial arrangement of objects draws one’s eyes to the lower portion even more strongly, which in turn forces the packs of cigarettes into view. The use of these compositional methods suggests a connection between this product and the people in the image. RJ Reynolds ultimately communicates that through the smoking of these cigarettes, the viewers will become a part of the lifestyle depicted in the …show more content…

The young professionals are not only the focal point in the center of the image, they are also considerably larger than any other element, taking up almost two thirds of the illustration. This drives home the point that younger individuals truly are targeted by this ad. Additionally, the RJ Reynolds company gave the primary slogan “Salem Spirit” a very large and easily legible font, ultimately making it the only text in the image truly discernable from a distance. Clearly, the advertisers want viewers to place greater importance on these two items than on anything else in the picture. The truthful information, in other words the Surgeon General’s Warning in the lower left part of the image as well as the potentially harmful contents of each cigarette just above it, is noticeably smaller and thus deprecated. This coerces the target audience into focusing on the positive impact that Salem cigarettes will have on their lives while deceptively drawing attention away from the

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