Archive for the ‘Lucky Strike’ Tag
The state of cigarette advertising in Germany
Filed under: Cigarette advertising | Tags: Burton cigarettes, Camel, Lucky Strike, Winston
Leave a comment This blog draws many readers from searches for cigarette advertising. I have absolutely no idea why people search for cigarette advertising, but they do, and some of my poster snaps have been used by others for all sorts of purposes. Certainly since the pandemic – and perhaps more significantly, the growing importance of e-cigarettes and standard packaging with images of diseased lungs – I’ve been starved of content; and the advertising there has been, seems a shade unimaginative.
Take, for example, Winston (left). The end of the packet is shown to avoid the unpleasant images and also to show how fat is the packet, housing as it does enough cigarettes to kill an elephant. There is an inexplicable link made between the number of cigarettes, taste (grosser geschmack) and value (for money). Not much of a narrative. Winston is an ITG brand in the USA (Imperial tobacco) and is a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco in the rest of the world.
Burton goes for a similar approach, though these are selected by smokers because they are “your [killer] cigarette”. I was not previously aware of Burton cigarettes, but according to cigarettespedia (goodness, an encyclopaedia of cigarettes, soon no reason to come to this site at all), it is a Greek and German brand owned by Tabak House. Seemingly, the brand goes for cheap, and appeals to young people. The taste is, therefore, not really an issue. The nicotine is perhaps more important.
It is not all despair, though. Camel is persisting with its primary colours approach with a touch of marketing brilliance (only joking). These sticks are extra long and therefore extra enjoyable. The subtlety of the slogan doesn’t really translate. It it reflexive, which means the cigarettes enjoy themselves being extra long as well as the smoker? Why do I care?
Also back on the high street is Lucky Strike (Luckies). Of course, this advertising campaign is trying to convince someone that cigarettes are green. The filters here are made of paper (rather than cork?), so that is alright then. Strangely, consumers are advised to put the used filters in the regular waste rather than the recycling bin!
And finally, something I have not reported on before (because it is not common in Germany), is loose rolling tobacco. Spirit with Character, whatever that is supposed to mean attached to a product that has known lethal properties, is certainly attractive in packaging terms. American Spirit has been in all sorts of bother over the years in the US. The Truth Initiative reports that the brand has convinced its customers that the product is less-harmful than competitor products because it is organic. But ironically, the organic claim may well contribute to the product being more harmful than competitor brands with more nicotine by means of “more puffs per cigarette”. Hawk-eyed readers may also consider the use of a representation of a native American to sell a distinctly western capitalist product to be at best unsavoury. The brand is owned by Reynolds American, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco.
Just when I thought there would be no more cigarette advertising
Then Lucky Strike emerges w
ith an old campaign. The “show the packet and then write something nonsensical” campaign is back. Eine für Länger. Als Eine Nacht seems to defy translation. One for longer. As a night? Even native speakers make no sense of it. This is no fun. Where are the beautiful people with cigarettes? Where are the people in bathtubs? The zest for life and inevitable death? The attitude? Come on, if cigarette advertising is back, make it interesting.
Lucky Strike stories in six words…everywhere
There are more of these on the streets of Germany than I could be bothered to get off my bicycle and photograph. Shocking blitzing of city streets with advertising for deadly products.
The first one(left) is something to do with travel: “Spinning world. Finger out. Case pack”.
The second (right) – forgive me here for the bad picture, but it has been sunny in Germany- the nuance here is a bit too much for me – “Ask. After the bill. And number”.Hmmm!
Third (left) 
“Chance opportunity. And grab. No regrets”. Death.
Lucky Strike inanities persist
As observed in my previous post on not-so-Luckies, the current campaign shows an unattractive packet of cigarettes with some silly statement that one is meant willingly to waste time with. So, here (left), something like “make a compliment. Simply. A stranger.” Oh yes! That is what cigarettes do for you. Only smoking strangers are willing to share your lethal habit and smell like an ashtray.
Let’s try another one (right). “Newly fallen in love. In 11 minutes. Offline…” I’ve no idea 
with that one. 11 minutes to smoke and fall in love with those that you have previously complimented in the cold and wet smoking shelter provided by your employer?
Thank goodness for JPS (left). Really simple until…one looks closer and there is a picture of one of the earlier advertising posters with those lovely young people slowly killing themselves whilst waiting to get into a festival of some kind. Interesting.
Lucky Strike plasters Germany Summer 2019
Ok, 
the summer winner is Lucky Strike. Everywhere one finds their inane slogans. Here (left) “Tell. A Story. With six words”. As if I have nothing better to do. OK. I rise to the challenge. “Smoking these brings premature, painful death.” Or BAT knowingly sells addictive and lethal products.” Do I win?
Come on Germany – or at least the Government – fall into line with the rest of Europe and end cigarette advertising, at least on the streets.
Another way of getting your five-a-day?
Filed under: Cigarette advertising | Tags: Lucky Strike, Pall Mall
Leave a comment The virtues associated with e
ating vegetables and fruits are well known. It can be a bit messy all of that peeling, cooking, etc.
But at last the cigarette industry has come up with a much easier way of doing it. By smoking it. Or have I again misunderstood the meaning of BAT’s Cigarillo concept? Probably.
Cigarette advertising blooming like summer flowers
Filed under: Cigarette advertising | Tags: Camel, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall
Comments (1) 
It is true, I did say it was quiet, not much doing on the cigarette advertising advertising front. Anything but, now. First up Camel (left). Sticking with the “Do your Thing” strapline here we have two relatively young people with (unlit) cigarettes in their mouths (always an unattractive image, surely?) doing their own thing. In line with the campaign more widely – and there are many examples elsewhere in this blog – the messa
ge is “Fuck off”?
Next up, Pall Mall is back with some fantastic tosh. Take “New Neighbour, New Friend” (right) as part of the “Enjoy the moment” campaign. How nice, meet on the balcony and be introduced by sharing a death stick. Most people do the introductions safely using an intermediary, such as a dog or cat.
Same campaign, same nonsense. Sorry about this one, it has been literally defaced, but none the worse for it. Strapli
ne is very clever: boring short holiday or long-time short holiday. I do not know whether this a a play on the old British saying that I know confuses German speakers. “What did you do on your holiday?” We did nothing”. “Great!” “How can doing nothing be anything but boring?” “Is doing nothing good?”
Finally, (un)Lucky Strike is back (right). Now this one is truly bizarre. And it is almost in line with the Pall Mall neighbours above. The innovation here is that the cigarettes are brown. Not great, I would ha
ve thought, but there you go. But added to that, there is now a Luck Strike dating app, “Cigarillo”, presumably for people with a death wish?
“Flaschendrehen trifft”, by my translation, is something like “meet by spinning the bottle”. Random? But to make it even stranger, if one looks at the packet with the “cigarettes are deadly” warning on the white block, one finds, “Wollen sie aufhören?” – “Do you want to stop smoking?” Mixed messages, at the very least.
Cool in the heat of the summer – JPS gegen Lucky Strike
Filed under: Cigarette advertising | Tags: JPS Blue, Lucky Strike
Comments (1) 
It is the summer of cool in the world of cigarette advertising in Germany. JPS has got this Blue Stream nonsense. Blue in cigarette packaging is usually menthol, i.e shite. So it looks like they are trying to market a rubbish cigarette type as taste without compromise (presumably this blue stuff usually entails compromise on taste). So, there’s this new filter, a rounded taste, whatever a rounded taste is, and less smoke – a kind of smokeless cigarette, similar to smokeless fuel introduced in the UK in the 1950s to combat smog.
The second variation on this product has the strapline “Die hat es in sich”. I am not sure this translates very well…”it has it in itself”? Up itself, perhaps?
The Lucky Strike blue campaign really thinks it is clever. Here we have the strapline that translates as “take the dog for a walk without the dog”. Stunning.
German cigarette advertising update – early summer 2017
Not a huge amount to report on the cigarette company campaigns. No attractive young people having their lives ruined. N
ot consciously, at least. That said, one cannot get over the sheer cleverness of the campaign managers with their slogans. Take Lucky Strike, for example. Urlaub Eingereicht – holiday secured, if my translation works. Cause for celebration and anticipation? Hold on. Am 1. Arbeitstag. Not so good. A working holiday, maybe? At least we have Luck Strike. The hashtags seem to refer to the taste of the cigarette – icecold and, for want of a better word, persistent?
Then there is Jeanshemd Getragen. Zur Jeanshose (right). I think for this one, it is too subtle for me. Literally Demin shirt worn. To Jeans trousers. Double denim or long shirt not needing trousers? Whatever it means, the product is deadly, icecold or not.
Finally, JPS are sticking with the big packs. 10 Euros gets you 39 cigarettes in a megadeath box. Sorry, megabox.
Gauloises does carefree dancing in the street
Filed under: Cigarette advertising | Tags: Gauloises, Lucky Strike
Comments (2) So, Gauloises is rehashing some of 
the imagery of its Vive le Moment advertising campaign. New taglines. I have seen a newer version of the women with moustaches on railway stations without having the option of taking a photo. But the young couple dancing in the street is completely new to me. What is going on here? Tagline is “Old Love, rejoined, new fire”. Erm….ok. So, young couple break up and get back together again with new energy, hence the dancing in the street. Enjoy the moment, for sure.
What I am confused about here is the law on advertising in Germany. In my previous post on the subject, it was clear that negative images of the effects of smoking were explicit with the foetus in the ashtray. But here, with the exception of the small black writing at the bottom “smoking is deadly” (upgraded from “smoking can be deadly”), all is idyllic.
Be informed 
