Pop Culture Icons: Memorable Advertising Strategies

When tobacco was first brought to England it became a huge hit and soon there after, it spread to other parts of the world. At first it was only sold as a luxury to affluent city folk but eventually the manufacturing was revolutionized by the Bonsack machine which made it affordable for the general public. Ten years later, the American Tobacco Company was founded by James Buchanan Duke, who promoted cigarettes by using aggressive marketing and advertising techniques. The success of the cigarette was not only attributed to the witty business strategies utilized but also to the fact that young men in urban areas were smoking them and creating a trend. When World War 1 came about, smoking became an even bigger phenomenon. In fact, the military and governments organized a constant supply of cigarettes for the troops. At this point in time cigarette companies like Camel were bringing in tons of revenue. With all this new money, these companies were available to create bigger and better advertisements which resulted in more product consumers. In the early 1900’s this disposition became even more popular. In some parts of the world, up to 80% of the male populations were regular smokers. Smoking became an acceptable part of culture in almost all aspects of life; people did

Since the mid to late 1900’s, the advertising industry has taken off and found new ways to persuade consumers to purchase products. As is the case with most things nowadays, social media has been a monumental part in the above mentioned forward progression the advertising industry has faced. Therefore, given the modern day advances of technology, social media and advertisers have found it increasingly more easy to join forces along the journey of fusing consumers into one massive cache. However, regardless of new advances, analysts have made an abundance of shocking discoveries that besmirch advertisers and their work in recent decades. As Jack Solomon wrote in his article, “Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising”, “if

These actors and actresses were paid by the tobacco companies to promote smoking. (Tye, J. 2010) As a result of these actors and actresses promoting the use of tobacco, many people were encouraged to smoke cigarettes. If one were to ask a person who began using tobacco during this era why, he or she started to smoke, the answer he or she would give would most likely be, “I wanted to be like John Wayne, or Joan Crawford.”

The traditional definition of the American Dream is the belief that everyone is given an equal opportunity to prevail and rise within the social hierarchy. Companies use the concept of the American Dream to appeal to their consumers to buy their product. In his essay “Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising,” Jack Solomon writes, “the American Dream has two faces; one communally egalitarian and the other competitively elitist” (167). Although egalitarianism and elitism are at odds with one another, companies advertise the two together. Apple Incorporation is an American technology company that began advertising their products in 1970. Nineteen seventy magazine advertisement “A is for Apple”, 2009 commercial “Elimination”, and

Throughout history, people have made sacrifices, changes, and big decisions that later sometimes result in something grand. These grand occurrences can either be good or bad. Usually as time goes on these events and most well-known people of this time are highlighted in history classes for students to learn and to honor those of that time. However, some of the smaller people that contributed to historical events aren’t as highlighted as those that were seen as the big leaders. For example, in the American Revolution, the people that usually come to mind are George Washington, Paul Revere, and Thomas Jefferson. What about the people who were injured, scared and killed because of this bloody war? They seem to be forgotten until they are highlighted once again. Another example of a person that was not really highlighted for their actions is Nina Simone. She made an impact on the Civil Right Movement that not many other artist or celebrity would have done. When you think of the Civil Rights Movement the first three that come to mind of course are, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, and Rosa Parks. So, when someone hears the name Nina Simone the two most common responses might be “Who’s that?” or “Oh the singer?”. But what is forgotten is how she, at such a high level, put her reputation at a risk. Nina Simone was a very well-known singer of the 1950s and 1960s especially for her song “Feeling Good”. She didn’t just use her popularity for fame and money but to express

“A hero is someone who, in spite of weakness, doubt or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway,” said Christopher Reeve (CR). A countless number of people wish to be remembered upon their death, however, very few are remembered much past their death. Those who are though often did an enormous amount of significant things in

When a celebrity passes, if it is something that the world does not agree with, that is what they are remembered for. Their whole career is forgotten. Take Michael Hutchence and David Carradine, they are unfortunately remembered for not their long careers but from passing with autoerotic asphyxiation.

All throughout history, whether present or past, books are filled page to page with people we consider heroes, as well as villans. Some quick people that come to mind when thinking of the fall of their legacy lead me to people like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Andrew Jackson and Napoleon Bonaparte. No matter what the subject; whether it be considered history of a sport, US history or even some celebrities lives, there will always be the one who was a hero in the spotlight and then the real truth comes out. Herofication dates back to the times of the beginning of America where Christopher Columbus, the man who we celebrate on Columbus Day to the public eye today is seen in a positive light. Contrary to popular belief, Columbus wasn't the nicest

There have been many people in history who have accomplished great feats. Their accomplishments have made major impacts on the world as we know it today. Their journeys changed the lives of generations, and invoked curiosity, determination and resilience among countless numbers of people. Whether it be by breaking records, or by discovering the unknown, we will always remember the people who shape our world and ideas.

Cigarette companies joined forces with Hollywood to make cool smoking characters. Who can forget James Bond (Sean Connery) with a cigarette dangling casually out the corner of his mouth, undisturbed by all manner of physical violence, as was his hair!

After finding out the effects of propaganda on the populous big tobacco companies spared no time before launching their own waves of propaganda promoting their cigarettes. As stated by Stanford School of Medicine, as early as the 1930s companies had already begun to release posters of venerated American heroes such as doctors, soldiers, even at one point presidents in order to reintroduce the trend of smoking as a cool trait the public could share with celebrities and heroes (Stanford

have been many fallen heroes who have been key subjects to be known in essence as

Furthermore, they would be remembered with honor and respect thanks to the the positive impact they made to society. A grate example is Oskar Schindler, who risked his life to saved 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. He was a German citizen, that didn’t agree with the murder of innocent children. Instead of being ordinary and don't do anything, he decided to take the risk and act extraordinary, hiding the kids in his factory. His action change the lives of all this children and their families but it also made a statement to the world saying that it is not okay to ignore injustice and violence.

Furthermore there are other researches as well which suggest that the approach of using a celebrity to endorse a product can not be viewed as a general practice of using any celebrity for any product endorsement. Pornpitakpan (2003), while discussing match-up hypothesis, describes the results of a study by Erdogen et al (2001) which suggests that "British advertising agency managers considered various criteria like celebrity- target audience match, celebrity-product match, overall image of the celebrity, cost of hiring the celebrity, celebrity trustworthiness, controversy risk, celebrity familiarity, celebrity prior endorsements, celebrity likeability, risk of celebrity overshadowing the brands, celebrity expertise, celebrity profession and celebrity physical attractiveness". A match between the target market and the endorser is important for effectively transmitting right message to target audience. For example, the advertisements which are produced by Pepsi, are mostly targeted for youths and so the celebrity endorsers that they use in their advertisements are young personalities. The match up hypothesis goes true for the multiple celebrity advertising as well. A good example of this is the Pulse Polio campaign taken up in India to eradicate the polio

Traditionally, many advertisements released by cigarette brands under the Philip Morris label have depicted happy people joined together in friendship (supposedly due to their common habit). Other advertisements attempted to associate cigarettes with sleek mystical figures, sometimes even sexually desirable ones. All this has changed, however, due to recent legal developments in which the cigarette giant was pressured to offer anti-smoking ads, in addition to the usual fictional ones depicting happy mannequins. In no way were they to advertise cigarettes, and they were mandated to help stop youth smoking. These requirements placed Philip Morris in a difficult situation. They needed to satisfy the