6.

Light my Lucky
R. Scholes. N.R. Comley &G.L.Ulmer
06/02/2022 Light My Lucky- R. Scholes, N.R. Comley and G.L. Ulmer 2
This is a discussion of a “Lucky Strike” Cigarette ad.
 It points out how clever the ad is and how important it is for
consumers to learn how to make a critical scrutiny (review) of ads or
any text made for promotional purposes.
Lucky Strike is one of the most famous cigarettes brands known
since the early 1900s.
A 1929 American Tobacco Company advertisement for Lucky Strike
cigarettes contributed in making that brand the top-selling brand in
the United States during the 1930s.
This Lucky Strike ad uses imagery that illustrates dominant social
norms and many other advertising techniques in order to convince
women to smoke in public.

06/02/2022 Light My Lucky- R. Scholes, N.R. Comley and G.L. Ulmer 3

Writers describe an advertisement for Lucky Strike cigarette. Cigarettes ads are
cleverly presented.
 The ad looks very simple. It presents a photo of a young, healthy woman(23 or
24 years old), holding an unlighted cigarette in a hand that rests on her head.
She is outdoors perhaps suggesting cigarettes can be smoked openly.
The words “Light My Lucky” appear in quotation marks, very prominently
displayed, starting just below her chin and extending right across the right
margin of the page.
 At the bottom of the photo, there is a surgeon general’s warning: “Smoking by
Pregnant Women May Result in Fetal Injury, Premature Birth, and Low
Weight.”
The writers examine the meaning of light and surgeon warning.
The young woman is very beautiful, she is outdoors and dressed in outdoorsy
clothing, a thick scarf and heavy sweater.
Background is blurred and she is holding an unlighted cigarette that rest on top
of her windblown blonde hair.

06/02/2022 Light My Lucky- R. Scholes, N.R. Comley and G.L. Ulmer 4

 The word light gives two meanings. It is used in a punning way in the
advertisement .
 One meaning is used as verb to mean set on fire: light my cigarette,
light a fire.
 Another is weightless (opposite to heavy) is used in our weight
conscious and health- conscious society to mean “free from bad
Ingredients.
 If we take the word light as fire, it is metaphorically suggesting for
sexual approach or erotic pleasure.
 Similarly, if we relate the meaning of light with weightless then it
means the cigarette is very useful, free from bad ingredients.
 Light beer has few calories; light cigarette have less tar or nicotine.
 The “light” in Light My Lucky thus refers to both the sexual
approach and the healthiness of the light cigarette.

06/02/2022 Light My Lucky- R. Scholes, N.R. Comley and G.L. Ulmer 5

  Similarly, the Surgeon’s warning is so tricky, that it only
warns pregnant women effects of taking Lucky Strike
cigarettes. It means others will not be affected by
smoking it.
 The ad thus shows metonymic associations of the
cigarette with beauty, health, and erotic pleasures. This
is an extremely clever and well-made ad.
 Consumers simply come under the influence of pictures
and words. They may easily believe that taking Light
Strike cigarettes is a symbol of dignity and splendor.
 This is an extremely clever and well- made ad.

 
Light My Lucky- R. Scholes, N.R. Comley and G.L.
06/02/2022 Ulmer 6
 The word metaphor can be traced from the Greek word
metaphorá, meaning to transfer. A metaphor is a figure of
speech used to describe or creatively compare different
things that are not the same but has similarity.
Sometimes, a sentence may sound awkward using
metaphors, but it is a unique way of comparing things. the
person being addressed in "you're a peach" is being equated
with a peach, with the suggestion being that the person is
pleasing or delightful
 metonymy, (from Greek metōnymia, “change of name,” or
“misnomer”), figure of speech in which the name of an
object or concept is replaced with a word closely related
to or suggested by the original, as “crown” to mean
“king” (“The power of the crown was mortally weakened”)
Light My Lucky- R. Scholes, N.R. Comley and G.L.
06/02/2022 Ulmer 7
 The Writer describe an advertisement for
Lucky Strike Light cigarettes. How does
the description bring the image of the ad
to your mind?
How does the advertisement associate
smoking, sex, and good health?
Think of some other cigarette ad or any
other ad and write on it as in the essay.

06/02/20 Light My Lucky- R. Scholes, N.R. Comley and G.L. Ulmer 8

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