Filed under: chain-gang
Smoking is sexy. Many of my generation seem not only to disagree, but to mistake this basic truth for the fallout of advertising or the self-deception of smokers. But I don’t smoke, nor grew up around smokers. And I’m not the only one of this description who enjoys discovering a good smoke-filled bar for its ambience.
My dear friend James recently wrote about the current state of tobacco advertising in the US, and the games advertisers play to color within the implicit lines of the culturally and legally acceptable. James points out that one could hardly find legal fault with a private non-profit group that put out ads promoting the pleasure and sexiness of smoking, without promoting a particular brand. [I’d prively find these far less annoying than, say, the Bacardi @ night ads]
I think someone should set up such a non-profit asap. It would have immediate support from all corners — oppressed urban smokers, struggling tobacco farmers, tobacco PR execs tired of playing all these games. Smoking is sexy, and we could all use a little more sex appeal with our standard drunkenness and bloodlust. I don’t want to see the day when I have to fly to France in order to relax in the privacy of a smoke-filled room.
I wonder if the act of smoking itself is not sexy in its own right; it’s the myth of smoking that makes it sexy. What is sexy is the aura of smoking, not smoking itself.
To co-opt a phrase from marketing: It’s not the steak, it’s the sizzle.
To me, smoking is entirely unsexy. The sad waif model freezing outside to catch a few puffs, the odor of burning tobacco covering the aroma of a wonderful meal, the yellowed teeth, aged skin, and hacking cough of a lifetime smoker… I think I’ll pass.
Comment by Dave 06.11.03 @ 4:05 pm