When advertising is shocking - 2

Something interesting from the Guinness Factory museum in Dublin.

Guinness was also famous for a while for its advertising slogan "Guinness is Good For You"

When advertising is shocking - 1

When we didn’t know then what we know now.

There are countless campaigns that seemed completely normal when rolled out during their time that now have some serious shock factor. The tobacco campaigns pre- 1960s are now viewed as some of the most controversial messages that were broadly advertised to consumers.

A few interesting facts:

-For most of the 1700s, cigarettes were sold in blank packages. It was only when a package producer was having trouble with the softness of the carton material that the idea for putting an image or lithography onto the carton came. The images and printings were used to stiffen the package. In the 1800s, eventually images and brands were printed on the cartons and were some of the first marketing tactics used.

-Throughout the 1960s and 70s, cigarette brands were often sponsors of television shows, to make some of their slogans and jingles catchy and memorable.

-The filter tip was added to cigarettes in the 1960s so tobacco companies could advertise their brand as “safer” and “less potent”.

-Anti-tobacco groups have found that tobacco campaigns have more frequently targeted women than men.

-Some of the most popular tobacco ads not only featured celebrities, but frequently doctors and political figures that would make claims about the safety or positive benefits of smoking. More controversial even yet were the ads that featured babies encouraging their mothers to smoke a chosen brand.