agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
Doesn't Know Whose Ring It Is
Posts: 20,871
Member is Online
|
Post by agent817 on Dec 29, 2018 15:48:57 GMT -5
I remember back in the 1990s, there was a huge stink over this mascot and the ads for Camel Cigarettes. I remember it was satirized in that Simpsons episode when Lisa competed in a pageant. But really, did it really draw young kids to want to smoke? Now I know that some teens smoked in those days, but I never saw any young kids try to smoke because of the advertising. I remember thinking that the artwork was interesting and the artist made Joe Camel look cool, but it never led to me want to smoke. My guess is that my dad used to smoke and he told me never to try it. He has since quit smoking tobacco.
|
|
Cranjis McBasketball☝🏻
Crow T. Robot
Knew what the hell that thing was supposed to be
Peace Love and Nothing But
Posts: 41,798
|
Post by Cranjis McBasketball☝🏻 on Dec 29, 2018 15:59:19 GMT -5
“Kids don’t smoke because a camel in sunglasses tells them to. They do it for the same reasons adults do, it relieves anxiety and depression” George Carlin.
|
|
|
Post by DSR on Dec 29, 2018 16:11:53 GMT -5
I remember my older sister got the catalogues for Camel merch, and I thought the stuff in those catalogues looked cool, but never wanted to pick up a cigarette because of it.
I also didn't notice Joe Camel's face looks like a dick and balls.
|
|
El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,660
|
Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Dec 29, 2018 16:12:20 GMT -5
I grew up in that time... never saw any Joe Camel stuff for kids. At all. Never.
And kids who started smoking did so because "the cool kids" did.
|
|
Spider2024
Patti Mayonnaise
Dedicated 6,666th post to Irontyger
I believe in Joe Hendry.
Posts: 39,076
|
Post by Spider2024 on Dec 29, 2018 16:18:14 GMT -5
Kids love him.
|
|
Dr. T is an alien
Patti Mayonnaise
Knows when to hold them, knows when to fold them
I've been found out!
Posts: 31,306
|
Post by Dr. T is an alien on Dec 29, 2018 16:27:02 GMT -5
I never got the controversy either, but I suppose it might have still played a small role in getting the attention of young, future smokers.
Still, I am absolutely certain that the Marlboro Man played a much larger role in getting kids to smoke.
|
|
|
Post by Limity (BLM) on Dec 29, 2018 16:31:57 GMT -5
I vaguely remember something about that, about Joe Camel being too much like a cartoon mascot. Like everyone else on here, though, I don't think Joe Camel ever influenced kids to smoke. If anything, that's just bad parents blaming anything and everything but themselves.
|
|
|
Post by Cyno on Dec 29, 2018 16:37:11 GMT -5
The tobacco companies are some of the most evil corporations on the planet (which is saying something), and they tried to do any and everything to hook the next generations on their cancer sticks. Joe Camel and other mascots like him may or may not have been able to get kids to smoke themselves, but maybe convince their parents or memories of how cool Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man was stuck in their minds so it'd make them more likely to buy them when they could legally purchase them at 18.
Truth is, if they didn't work as advertising mascots, they would've never used them.
|
|
Shark
Hank Scorpio
The world's only Samurai Ninja Pirate
Posts: 7,045
|
Post by Shark on Dec 29, 2018 16:58:18 GMT -5
The tobacco companies are some of the most evil corporations on the planet (which is saying something), and they tried to do any and everything to hook the next generations on their cancer sticks. Joe Camel and other mascots like him may or may not have been able to get kids to smoke themselves, but maybe convince their parents or memories of how cool Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man was stuck in their minds so it'd make them more likely to buy them when they could legally purchase them at 18. Truth is, if they didn't work as advertising mascots, they would've never used them. For real. Philip Morris is a disgusting company. John Oliver's show did a big piece on them and the things they do in poor countries to sell their product.
|
|
|
Post by Brandon Walsh is Insane. on Dec 29, 2018 17:26:19 GMT -5
Cartoons are for kids!
|
|
chrom
Backup Wench
Master of the rare undecuple post
Posts: 84,136
Member is Online
|
Post by chrom on Dec 29, 2018 17:29:47 GMT -5
I never got the controversy either, but I suppose it might have still played a small role in getting the attention of young, future smokers. Still, I am absolutely certain that the Marlboro Man played a much larger role in getting kids to smoke. The Flintstones of all things had commercials were Fred would light up a Cigarette for him and Wilma to smoke.
|
|
|
Post by wildojinx on Dec 29, 2018 17:48:50 GMT -5
I never got the controversy either, but I suppose it might have still played a small role in getting the attention of young, future smokers. Still, I am absolutely certain that the Marlboro Man played a much larger role in getting kids to smoke. The Flintstones of all things had commercials were Fred would light up a Cigarette for him and Wilma to smoke. While not as bad as cigarettes, I've seen beer ads from the 60s with Mr. Magoo. At least you can kind of claim that the Flintstones were aimed at adults, but UPA cartoons (which Magoo was part of) were aimed at a much younger audience.
|
|
|
Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Dec 29, 2018 17:52:15 GMT -5
I remember my older sister got the catalogues for Camel merch, and I thought the stuff in those catalogues looked cool, but never wanted to pick up a cigarette because of it. I also didn't notice Joe Camel's face looks like a dick and balls. That was the first thing my grandmother pointed out to me when we first saw the character.
|
|
|
Post by Cyno on Dec 29, 2018 17:57:53 GMT -5
Stuff like this is also why alcohol and tobacco ads are way more restricted on how and where they can advertise compared to other products. And why tobacco ads have to have that Surgeon General's Warning notice and alcohol commercials often have to make a disclaimer about drinking responsibly somewhere in the ad.
I know a lot of states have ABC stores for alcohol sales and distribution along with strict regulations on who can otherwise sell alcohol in a store or serving setting. Do other states have any such limitations on tobacco products outside of expense and age of purchase?
|
|
Dr. T is an alien
Patti Mayonnaise
Knows when to hold them, knows when to fold them
I've been found out!
Posts: 31,306
|
Post by Dr. T is an alien on Dec 29, 2018 18:48:55 GMT -5
I never got the controversy either, but I suppose it might have still played a small role in getting the attention of young, future smokers. Still, I am absolutely certain that the Marlboro Man played a much larger role in getting kids to smoke. The Flintstones of all things had commercials were Fred would light up a Cigarette for him and Wilma to smoke. Yeah, but the Flintstones at that time was a prime time cartoon geared primarily at adults. It's fairly obvious when you watch the earlier episodes that they were really going for a Honeymooners vibe, going so far as to hire writers away from Jackie Gleason for the show. That is how I grew up watching a cartoon show that featured money problems, jealous spouses, gambling problems, unemployment, insurance fraud, and Barney Rubble's seeming sterility.
|
|
|
Post by badkarma on Dec 29, 2018 19:19:25 GMT -5
Joe Camel is a dick.
|
|
chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
Posts: 27,846
|
Post by chazraps on Dec 29, 2018 19:31:58 GMT -5
Joe Camel definitely planted the seed for kids' smoking. While it wasn't "i want to smoke to be cool like that camel," it was the only cartoon character to be used as a cigarette mascot at that time. The rest of the market had cowboys or young people having fun. Camel had a character resembling children's media.
Additionally, Camel's advertising on cigarette vending machines was always lower to the floor in the perfect eyeline of children.
Joe Camel may have not directly gotten us to smoke, but his existence made certain as kids that Camel was the first cigarette brand we knew. That creates brand awareness, consistency, and a conscious relationship with the product.
When looked at in context of the tobacco industry at the time, the outrage was justified.
|
|
chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
Posts: 27,846
|
Post by chazraps on Dec 29, 2018 19:37:55 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by OldDirtyBernie on Dec 29, 2018 19:47:23 GMT -5
I think they may have been concerned more with subconscious effects of a cool cartoon guy marketing cigarettes and kids' interpretations but I agree that I personally see very little overt connections between the mascot being a cartoon and directly influencing kids desire to smoke. I think the more direct influence came a generation earlier when celebrities and other popular entities were literally pitching for cigarette brands on the radio and television and, even as that was phased out as our generation was growing up, the damage had been done and the burden passed on to parents who had been lied and preached to that smoking tobacco was completely harmless.
That said, I completely agree with the notion that tobacco and alcohol advertising should be heavily regulated and the big tobacco companies got only a fraction of what they deserve for their sales tactics.
|
|
|
Post by brettappedout (BLM) on Dec 29, 2018 19:52:55 GMT -5
I remember Joe Chemo posters in my school.
|
|