ABSTRACT
Figure 3.1: The “Be Marlboro” Campaign Targets Teens (source: From the collection of Stanford Research Into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising
(tobacco.stanford.edu))
“Maybe Never Wrote a Song,” says the headline on one ad, accompanying a black and white photo of a young woman, smiling as she looks away from the camera, a guitar in her lap and a smoking cigarette in her hand. “Maybe Never Fell in Love,” says another, showing a young couple kissing on a dark city street. “Don’t Be A Maybe,” advises a third version of the ad, which shows a young man leaping into the air above the stage at a rock concert, guitar in hand. “Maybe Never Feels Free,”
proclaims another, next to a photo of a young woman, standing up through the sunroof of a car, smiling as the wind ruffles her hair. What’s the alternative to “Maybe,” according to the ad campaign? “Be Marlboro.” The campaign, which Philip Morris is running in 50 low-and medium-income countries worldwide, was intended to replace the brand’s iconic “Marlboro Man” image. In a report on the campaign, an alliance of anti-smoking organizations argue that the campaign’s themes, featuring young people partying, traveling to exciting places and reveling in their freedom, “exploits adolescents’ search for identity by suggesting that – in the face of uncertainty – they should BE a Marlboro smoker” (Alliance for the Control of Tobacco Use (ACT Brazil), Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Corporate Accountability International, Framework Convention Alliance, InterAmerican Heart Foundation, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance, 2014, p. 3). Phillip Morris’s global campaign to promote Marlboro cigarettes, decried in numerous countries worldwide for clearly targeting teenagers, is not officially in use in the United States because U.S. law prohibits targeting children in tobacco advertising. And yet, the headlines in many of the campaign ads are in English. The song used in a campaign video, which shows young people dancing at a club, swimming in a lake, cavorting around a beach bonfire, and engaging in other fun, adventurous and social activities, is also in English. Both static and video versions of the ads are easily found online, and, ironically, it’s possible that U.S. news coverage of complaints about the campaign may have raised awareness – and reach – of the campaign in the United States. The “Don’t Be A Maybe” campaign illustrates many of the themes common in research on the ways in which tobacco companies have targeted smokers and potential smokers. From the iconic “Marlboro Man” to Newport’s “Alive with Pleasure” campaigns to Camel’s poolplaying, motorcycle-riding “Joe Camel” cartoon to Virginia’s Slims’ reminders that women have “come a long way, baby,” cigarette manufacturers have promoted the idea that smoking cigarettes (and using tobacco in other ways) symbolizes independence, self-reliance, willingness to take risks and, if necessary, flout social convention. These themes have helped tobacco manufacturers ensure a steady stream of new customers, which is critical to an industry whose product regularly kills off its existing users.
