What Advertising is Really About

What comes to mind when you think of advertising? Perhaps a commercial with an annoying soundtrack like Intel’s. Or over the top creativity like Mac vs. PC. Or funny commercials with messages delivered by Old Spice Man and E-Trade Baby. How about graphic images of diseased lungs, corpses and rotten teeth? That’s what the federal government wants you to see on each pack of cigarettes sold in the United States.

The images are part of a new campaign announced by the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services yesterday to reduce tobacco use, which is responsible for about 443,000 deaths per year. "Some very explicit, almost gruesome pictures may be necessary," FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in an interview with The Associated Press. "This is a very, very serious public health issue, with very, very serious medical consequences," such as cancer, heart disease, strokes and lung diseases. At least 30 other countries already require graphic warnings, including some, like Brazil, that often go even further than the proposed U.S. messages. Canada, which became the first country to require more graphic warnings in 2000, has seen a significant drop in smoking. The images will be in new warning labels that will take up the top half of a pack — both front and back — of cigarettes; contain color graphics depicting the negative health consequences of smoking, and constitute 20 percent of advertisements. Will these graphic warnings change habits in the U.S.?

Advertising can be defined as a form of communication intended to persuade an audience to take some action. Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of their products through branding, which involves the repetition of an image or product name in an effort to associate related qualities with the brand in the minds of consumers. Cigarette advertising has been banned in the U.S. for decades so consumers have to come up with attributes and benefits cigarettes offer them. Advertising, in its non-commercial guise, is a powerful educational tool capable of reaching and motivating large audiences. But until now advertising has become synonymous with interruption and surprise turned into a game of chance where the audience is expected to be exposed to the message –you may mute the TV and miss a commercial, change the station on the radio or skip an ad in a magazine. The new graphic labels will accompany the product and go wherever the consumer goes at all times. Unlike commercials that can be muted to be avoided, consumers will not be able to escape the message. They will see the graphic images every time they reach for a cigarette, becoming in effect, a captive audience. For the sake of the public’s health let’s hope this campaign affects the intended behavior.