http://www.photonette.net/

 

 

 

 

Joe Camel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Joe Camel (officially Old Joe) was the advertising mascot for Camel cigarettes from late 1987 to July 12, 1997, appearing in magazine advertisements, billboards, and other print media. Prior to 1987 the character had appeared in cartoon television advertisements. The character caused controversy because critics of the tobacco industry claimed that the company used it to advertise cigarettes to children.[1]

History

Joe Camel was conceived in the 1950's by an unknown art director in France working on a T-shirt promotion for the brand in Europe. The R.J. Reynolds U.S. marketing team, looking for an idea to promote Camel's 75th anniversary, re-discovered Joe in the company's archives in the late 1980's. At that time, R.J. Reynolds' staff found that the Camel brand had a reputation as an "old-man's cigarette." The staff wanted a new campaign to make the brand more attractive to contemporary smokers.

Controversy

In 1991, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study[2] showing that more children 5 and 6 years old could recognize Joe Camel than could recognize Mickey Mouse or Fred Flintstone, and alleged that the "Joe Camel" campaign was supposedly targeting children—despite R.J. Reynolds' contention that the campaign had been researched only among adults and was directed only at the smokers of other brands. At that time it was estimated that over 30% of all cigarettes sold in the U.S. were Marlboros. Subsequently, the American Medical Association asked R.J. Reynolds Nabisco to pull the campaign. R.J. Reynolds refused, and the Joe Camel Campaign continued. In 1993 and 1994, more appeals to end the campaign followed.

In response to the criticism, they instituted "Let's Clear the Air on Smoking," a campaign of full-page magazine advertisements consisting entirely of text, typically set in large type, denying those charges, and declaring that smoking is "an adult custom."

Under pressure from Congress and various public-interest groups, on July 10, 1997, RJR announced it would voluntarily end its Joe Camel campaign and cease to disseminate all ads showing the character. A new campaign with a more adult theme debuted; instead of Joe Camel, it had a plain image of a quadrupedal, non-anthropomorphic camel.

R.J. Reynolds to this day has denied Joe Camel was intended to be directed at children; the company maintains that Joe Camel's target audience was 25-49-year-old males and current Marlboro smokers.

Resemblance to Male Genitalia

An Urban Legend of sorts is the resemblance of Joe Camel's nose and snout to that of a penis and scrotum, perhaps as subliminal advertising. This speculation was undoubtedly fed by the existing legend of the image of the "Naked Man" on the front of Camel cigarette packages.

Joe Camel in popular culture

References

  1. ^ DiFranza JR, Richards JW, Paulman PM, Wolf-Gillespie N, Fletcher C, Jaffe RD, Murray D. RJR Nabisco's cartoon camel promotes camel cigarettes to children. JAMA. 1991 Dec 11;266(22):3149-53. PMID 1956102
  2. ^ Fischer PM, Schwartz MP, Richards JW Jr, Goldstein AO, Rojas TH. Brand logo recognition by children aged 3 to 6 years. Mickey Mouse and Old Joe the Camel. JAMA. 1991 Dec 11;266(22):3145-8. PMID 1956101

On the episode of Futurama, the Joe Camel character also say's: "Sorry I'm late, my pool game ran long at the jazz club"

 

 

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joe_Camel&action=history

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html