Anna Farris

CAS 137H 013

Lori Bedell

7 October 2021 (Revised 2022)

Rhetorically Engaging Smoking Ads Over The Years

Society’s views on smoking and nicotine consumption have changed drastically over the past

few decades. At present, society knows of the dangers of nicotine and tobacco, and strongly

discourages smoking, whereas a number of decades ago smoking used to be commonplace,

encouraged by society and even doctors. These two smoking related ads portray two very

contrasting thoughts on smoking by using similar appeals and rhetorical strategies to appeal to

different desires of the audience. The Real Cost calls on negative feelings like fear and danger,

and Tipalet calls on positive feelings like excitement and adventure, but both of these ads

effectively utilize pathos, stylistic choices, and kairotic moments to invoke civic action within

the audience.

The Real Cost uses imagery as pathos to instill fear into the audience and discourage them from

using nicotine. In order to affect the feelings of the audience, they create a sense of

self-identification by making the subject a teenage boy with long hair that skateboards, an image

that will be recognizable to most teen viewers. Once the viewer recognizes themself in the ad,

The Real Cost instills a sense of fear through the loss of self. The boy pictured has glazed over

eyes, and a port where his mouth should be, which makes the viewer see the boy as robotic.

Additionally, the port for a mouth opens the door to the idea that those who vape will exist solely

to fulfill their cravings, as the mouth cannot be used to talk, eat, or breathe. This sends the
message that when one becomes addicted to nicotine, they operate with one intention and goal:

getting more nicotine.

The text on the ad further instills these feelings and ideas in the audience. The text states he has

been “hacked” by nicotine, and that nicotine can “reprogram your brain” until “all you can think

about is your next cigarette”. One can infer that being hacked implies a loss of control and self

determination, given in this case to the hands of cigarettes. The literal words “reprogram your

brain” further evokes a sense of fear of the loss of self into the audience as they lose their own

brain and it becomes rewired and becomes someone (or something) else. The part that suggests

“all you can think about is your next cigarette” connects to the idea of the mouthpiece with no

mouth; they are no longer a person and do not live, breathe, or act as one does, and only operate

to get their next cigarette. These things combined make him seem even more robotic and like he

has lost himself, and is now not a person but a captive to his addiction, which would be

disturbing to the viewer that recognizes themself in this image as they do not want to lose the

things that this character has lost. Additionally, the darkness surrounding the boy and the

harshness of the coding text contribute to the grim scene, instilling more fear into the audience.

These all contribute to an incitement of fear in the audience as they do not want to lose themself

and become a robotic vessel for nicotine, and this ad makes it clear they will if they use vapes.

In addition to effective use of imagery, The Real Cost utilizes stylistic choices in the logo to

incite seriousness and a sense of urgency into the audience that emphasizes the danger and fear

their imagery invokes. The warning sign on the logo in the bottom right corner of the ad sends a

message of urgency, danger, and captures the severity of the situation, as it is a well known

symbol of emergency. The Real Cost profits off of that by including it, making the use of

nicotine out to be an immediate and extreme danger. The words “the real cost” are also important
here. The word “cost” emphasizes the fact that there is a loss, a loss of self or loss in general

when deciding to use nicotine. It also calls attention to something often ignored by stating that it

is “real”, and uses bold text that is not straight or perfect. There are faults in the lettering which

adds to the impression that this cost is negative and wears away at a person in the same way the

lettering is slightly worn away. All these stylistic choices work together to evoke urgency within

the audience and a sense of seriousness when it comes to teen tobacco use.

The Tipalet ad also effectively utilizes imagery as pathos and stylistic choices to appeal to the

audience and call to civic action just as The Real Cost advertisement did, but it appeals to

different emotions and desires. Rather than deterring the act of smoking by instilling fear into the

audience with dark tones and scary images, Tipalet encourages smoking by appealing to the

audience’s sensuality and desires for excitement and female attraction. Tipalet uses these

strategies to appeal to its audience of heterosexual men.

The ad pictures a young woman staring at a smoking man; her eyes are glazed over and her

mouth is slightly open making her seem to be in a trance-like state as this man is blowing in her

face. The advertisement states “blow in her face and she’ll follow you anywhere”, implying that

the man smoking has control over the woman because of the smoke, further supported by her

tranced gaze. This appeals to the audience’s desire to be desired by and have control over

women.

The woman in the ad also has very long, thick, eyelashes. Eyelashes are often a distinct symbol

of femininity. This, in addition to the prominent feature of her chest, and the very fact that she’s a

conventionally attractive woman, appeal to the audience by creating an attraction and desire for

this “perfect” feminine woman that Tipalet cigarettes will supposedly draw in.
Tipalet also uses stylistic choices to appeal to the audience. They describe their flavors as

“luscious”, “rich”, “tangy” and “new”, “different”, and “wild”. These words are all exciting to

the audience, especially because of their sensual presentation within context. The ad also states

“Oh yes... you get smoking satisfaction without inhaling smoke”. With this line they are subtly

implying that the satisfaction the woman would give to the man if he smoked these cigarettes

would be equal to that of smoking, which appeals to the audience’s desires for sex and pleasure

especially with the use of the phrase “Oh yes…”. These verbs are effective stylistic choices that

reinforce the idea of excitement, adventure, and sensuality as a promise for the audience.

The effective use of imagery sets these ads up well for the use of their respective stylistic

choices. The Real Cost and Tipalet both effectively enact stylistic choices to support their

messages, but call on different appeals for their audience. The Real Cost uses stylistic choices to

further draw on the seriousness of the issue, while Tipalet uses stylistic choices to draw on the

ideas of excitement and pleasure, ideas juxtaposing seriousness and danger.

The advertisers’ success in their uses of imagery, pathos, and stylistic choices are reinforced by

their attention to context and kairos. Both ads were presented at drastically different times in

history, when the ideas surrounding smoking were very different. However they both profit off of

individual kairotic moments by using appeals that are related to the time period to call to an

action that is fitting for the time period and context.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2019 the percentage of teens who said

they had vaped nicotine in the past year nearly doubled for teens from 8th-12th grade. The Real

Cost profits off of the kairotic moment of the peak of teen vaping by presenting their ad during

this peak of teen tobacco use and uses relevant technology to support their argument. The use of
the USB port and the coding appeals to the viewers, particularly tech-savvy teens who

understand things like getting “hacked” and the USB port mouth making the boy appear to be a

robot. In 2019, these are relevant choices. Vaping was peaking amongst teens and youth when

this ad was released. There must be a call to action, and The Real Cost is taking advantage of

that. There was a lot of conversation in the news about vaping and teen nicotine consumption so

these ads were especially relevant.

Tipalet gains traction from very different ideas. In the 1960s, the patriarchy and the belittlement

of women was in full force. Tipalet profits off of that by giving in to the ideals of the patriarchy.

The advertisement states, “A puff in her direction and she’ll follow you, anywhere”. The comma

after “you” and before “anywhere” is a stylistic choice Tipalet uses to be suggestive to the

audience of where they might take the woman. The entire idea of controlling a woman, and the

entranced and bound look the woman is giving the man, ties into the time period perfectly.

Tipalet recognizes the patriarchal ideology and how it is instilled within men, and both reinforces

and is reinforced by it. Men in the 1960s want women to follow them everywhere and do as they

want, and this ad validates their desires by claiming to provide just that. Additionally, domestic

violence was prevalent in the 1960s. In a 1964 article a doctor actually prescribed domestic

violence, stating it was “violet, temporary therapy” that helped to “balance out each other's

quirks” (TIME). The phrase “hit her with tangy tipalet cherry”, then, is interesting and

purposeful. “Hit her” can be compared to the actual act of hitting women, a commonplace in the

60s, so it appeals to the audience by comparing this to that action. Additionally, Tipalet’s ad is

presented at a time when smoking was very prevalent in the US. In fact, in the 1960s about 42%

of Americans were regular smokers (PRB). So, it is presented at a time that is fitting for their

goal.
Though Tipalet and The Real Cost are promoting opposite actions, and are calling upon different

emotions and desires of the audience to support their claims, they both effectively utilize pathos,

stylistic choices, and kairotic moments in order to succeed in their endeavors. In The Real Cost’s

advertisement they strategically utilized intrinsic proofs such as pathos, a kairotic moment, and

stylistic choices to call to the civic by instilling a sense of fear and seriousness into the audience

which calls for action. In the Tipalet ad, Tipalet utilizes intrinsic proofs and stylistic choices, and

relies on the ideology of the patriarchy to call to the civic and appeal to the desires for

excitement and pleasure of the audience and gain more customers. These ads serve as examples

of effective rhetorical strategies when calling for action from their respective audiences.
 Works Cited

Dockterman, Eliana. “Domestic Violence: 50 Years Ago, Doctors Called It 'Therapy'.” Time,

Time, 25 Sept. 2014, https://time.com/3426225/domestic-violence-therapy/.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Study: Surge of teen vaping levels off, but remains high as of

early 2020.” National Institute of Drug Abuse, 15 December 2020, https://www.drugabuse.gov/

news-events/news-releases/2020/12/study-surge-of-teen-vaping-lev els-off-but-remains-high-as-

of-early-2020. Accessed 30 September 2021.

Not all Americans are smoking less. PRB. (2011, February 1). Retrieved October 8, 2021, from

https://www.prb.org/resources/not-all-americans-are-smoking-less/.

The Real Cost. (n.d.). Hacked. Retrieved October 8, 2021.

Tipalet. (2015, December 24). The Telegraph. Retrieved October 8, 2021, from https://

www.telegraph.co.uk/goodlife/living/beyond-belief-shocking-vintage-adverts-from-the-golden-

age/tipalet/.

Ads
The Real Cost

Tipalet