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]
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.
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.
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.
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