Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The designs on cigarette packages are some of my favorite things ever. The use of color, the easy stylishness- everything about them is appealing. I don't smoke myself, but I come from a family of smokers, so I guess I sort of associate cigarettes with home and people I love. I'm kind of too timid to start smoking in earnest but I dislike the judgmental tone of anti-smoking ads. I figure people should do what they like, and too much of anything will kill you anyway.



The Lucky Strike design is largely the same today, except its white instead of dark green. I sort of prefer the green, though. It almost looks homemade, and less like the Pepsi logo.


In a way it kind of makes me sad that cigarette ads aren't like this anymore. I think to be fair, tobacco companies should be allowed to advertise as vigorously as the "truth" commercials. I think it'd be funny, anyway.

The movie Thank You For Smoking used elements of these designs really well in its opening credits sequence. The interesting thing about that movie is they never actually show a single person smoking.



It's sad now that movies get a more "adult" rating if they feature smoking. It can bump a PG-13 to R, which seems to me like overreacting. The whole ratings system is messed up anyway. It's not like kids are gonna go, "Oh my god, Benjamin Button is smoking, I can't wait to get my hands on a pack!"

No comments: