Visual Text with a Harmful Message to Society
Description of the Advertisement
The advertisement is one among a series of 1950s print advertisements for Marlboro . The specific advertisement contains the following message: “Before you scold me Mom maybe you’d better light up a Marlboro” . The focal point is a photograph of a male baby, wearing a hat (supposedly his mother’s hat since it contains fragments of a ribbon), with no shirt on, and his first seems to be imploring. The photo just captured the face up to the baby’s bare chest (without showing the nipples). Below the photo of the baby, specifically on the left side, are the following inscriptions: besides the small photo of the baby’s supposed mother where her left hand is shown to hold a lighted Marlboro are the words – “Yes, you need never feel over-smoked that’s the Miracle of Marlboro!” . Likewise, on the lower right side of the photo is an open pack of Marlboro in its actual package at that era, where six cigarettes protrude in arranged structure. The manufacturer of Marlboro, Philip Morris’ brand, is written in red interface.
1. What draws one’s attention?
The aspect that drew one’s attention to the advertisement was the fact that the baby was used as the focal point of the ad; seemingly trying to insinuate that to appease the mother, more cigarettes should be smoked as a stress reliever. The expression of the baby apparently drives audience appeal.
2. What one’s eyes focus on?
what the baby seems to be inferring. The audience could be wondering why a baby seems to be saying something when the advertisement is for Marlboro, a brand widely known for cigarettes.
3. Impact of font, style, colors
The messages were written in different fonts, sizes, and styles; as well as in different colors. The main message at the top of the advertisement was written in larger sized font and the word ‘Marlboro’ was highlighted in bold red interface, also in the largest size, from among the messages in the ads. In addition, the message at the left lower portion of the ads were in the smallest font size and the words ‘over-smoked’ were highlighted in bold black color. Finally, the words in the Marlboro pack could be deduced as printed within the exact font and style of the actual packaging for the cigarettes at that time frame. Only the red Philip Morris print provided a highlighted contrast since it was diagonally printed in front of the pack. In addition, the face of the baby was strategically located at the center with a red background as a highlight.
4. What are the emotions elicited?
The emotions that were elicited were as follows: empathy (for seeing the baby imploring not to be scolded for allegedly wearing his mother’s hat), amusement (for recognizing how cute the baby was, including his expression), worried (for having used a baby as the focal point of an advertisement for cigarettes), anger and exasperation (for realizing that the advertisement sends negative effects to the audience and to what it implies, in general).
Analysis of Message Presentation
1. Description of the Message
There were two (2) sets of messages which were visually shown on top of the ads, as well as in the lower left portion. The main message, “Before you scold me Mom maybe you’d better light up a Marlboro” (MacDonnell), insinuated that by lighting a cigarette, specifically a Marlboro, the baby’s mother could be given the opportunity to lessen the stress; and maybe, eventually, would change the decision of scolding him. The message in the lower left portion inferred that there should not be any worries for smoking a Marlboro, as stressed by the words, “Yes, you need never feel over-smoked that’s the Miracle of Marlboro!” .
The first message persuades the audience that by lighting a Marlboro, whatever stressors the smoker could be undergoing, would be minimized or diminished. As such, the makers of the ad argue that smoking Marlboro would have a calming effect. Concurrently, the second message insinuates that there is virtually no harm or negative effect of smoking Marlboro, even though in excessive amounts. The words that smokers would never feel over-smoked persuades the audience to remove any negative perceptions of smoking in excessive amounts.
2. How the Text Makes its Argument
3. Why the Argument is Harmful
Based on the analysis, the argument is definitely harmful since general knowledge knows
that smoking cigarettes are harmful for the health. As such, one could rationalize how would a baby propose smoking to his mother when on the first place, it is within the mothers’ knowledge and awareness that smoking is bad for the health. In addition, the argument asserting that there should not be any feeling of over-smoking is also harmful given that the addictive properties of cigarettes have already been confirmed.
Another point of argument was the apparent perception given to the audience that scolding is expected just because the baby wore his mother’s hat – which is really a slim possibility since the hat really looked good on the baby. As such, why should the baby even feel that he would be scolded just for wearing it. General knowledge and practice about raising and rearing children always gives credence to the fact that material things always are considered of lesser value when compared to the safety and health condition of the child. Therefore, wearing a mother’s hat does not warrant scolding, as inferred in the advertisement – again, a harmful and wrong message delivered to the audience.
Conclusion
The current discourse has successfully achieved its objective of presenting an advertisement which contains a message that is harmful to society. The use of various elements in the advertisement: the baby as the focal point asserting the calming effect of cigarettes, the apparent non-restriction of smoking and not having any over-smoking feeling, as well as mothers being target consumers for the ads, affirm the harmful impact that the message sent to its target consumers.
Works Cited
MacDonnell, D.A. "The 13 Most Disturbing Vintage Ads for Household Products." 2013. cracked.com. http://www.cracked.com/article_19980_the-13-most-disturbing-vintage-ads-household-products.html. 29 January 2016.
