Smoking Doesn't Pay!
I imagine most of us have seen Frank Frazetta's famous "ad" from vintage Warren magazines preaching the defects in the then quite common practice. I read recently that this was Frazetta's final piece of "comic art" of any kind and that it was specifically commissioned by James Warren for his magazines despite the profound loss of revenue rejecting smoking ads meant that the time. As it turns out comics were common device to sell cigarettes, so I guess it's only fair to use the format to present the counter view. Below are some vintage cigarette ads which use the comics format.
Don't fall victim amigos. I am lucky not to have the craving, though I will confess to having enjoyed the rare cigar from time to time. These days I've given it all up completely.
Rip Off
Seems insane looking back that this was allowed, but some great art. I don't think we advertised cigarettes in UK comics , I certainly dont recall them . Do you know the artist on the "...Yukon." ad at all
ReplyDeleteSorry but I don't. I just gleaned some of the more lively examples from across the wilds of the internet.
DeleteI've never smoked a cigarette in my life but my father smoked about 20 a day. He told me never to smoke because it was a waste of money and I followed his advice. But my dad didn't drink alcohol and it annoys me that smokers are demonized while drinking alcohol is acceptable even though alcohol is actually far more damaging to individuals and their families (I admit I do drink alcohol but only in moderation).
ReplyDeleteIt is as irrational as many other things in society. In America marijuana is seen by many still as the gateway to hell, but booze is just as regular as anything. Strange distinctions.
DeleteA few clarifications. I don't recall ever seeing a cigarette ad in a comic book. The comics medium was used to sell cigarettes in ads running in mainstream magazines like Life. Warren never ran ads for any products other than the remaindered merchandise he sold directly through his "Captain Company," so he didn't experience "a profound loss of revenue" as a result of running an anti-smoking public service message. But I agree with the general thrust of your post, that the comics medium was widely used to sell cigarettes, and the Frazetta piece was a nice counter to that. Warren was quite a character but clearly had some personal convictions that he put into practice, witness the stories about Vietnam that he ran in Blazing Combat, resulting in that magazine being banned from newstands on military bases.
ReplyDeleteValid correction sir. I was thinking as I put this together about how Warren was often just above water and being a magazine and not a "comic" strictly with a somewhat more adult audience might have consented to tobacco ads. Warren was a guy who wanted to make it big and did in many ways that mattered to him, but he was a guy who had some convictions which couldn't be shaken in the long term.
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