"Creative Anti-Smoking Advertisements" Commentary

The advertisement I am going to be looking at is a picture of a cowboy in a desolate desert looking plain. He is standing by his horse that is apparently dead because he is lying on the ground. The ad simply says, “Second hand smoke kills.” The cowboy’s body language leads me to believe that he is thinking to himself, “Well shoot, what I do now?”

I believe this advertisement has a somewhat humorous side yet it also conveys a very strong message. The message is that second hand smoke kills. The effects could even kill your best friend or companion. The audience of this advertisement is mainly focused toward those who smoke. It is trying to inform the audience that the smoking behavior of others could kill those around them. If a smoker was viewing this it would give them the idea that they could be harming others by smoking around them. This advertisement could also be targeted towards those people who don’t smoke. Targeting that audience would have the purpose of warning those who do not smoke, what could happen if they are around a smoker. The context could be taken from the cowboy’s point of view, (the smoker) or it could be viewed from the horse’s point of view, (the non-smoker.)
This advertisement gives the viewer a sense of the place they could expect to be in if they did smoke. The cowboy is alone in this uninhabited place and now he doesn’t even have a companion. Not to mention it looks like he will be walking anywhere he plans to go. This could be a way for the advertising company to say, if you smoke, be prepared to be left out and alone because your habits may harm someone innocent. The advertisement also makes it seem as though now there’s no hope. He is by himself, there doesn’t seem to be civilization anywhere around, and it looks as though it might be hot. A person may also interpret this advertisement as second hand smoke can knock you off your feet. That would be more directed towards those who don’t necessarily smoke, but that are around second hand smoke. However you look at it, this advertisement does have a very strong message.

“Creative Anti-smoking Advertisements” Mirage studio 7. 27 Nov. 2007 <: blog.miragestudio7.com/.../>.