Geisenblog

The copy for this ad, even allowing that it’s circa 1926, is outrageous. Cigarette smoke is not enjoyable second hand. Naturally, any non-smoker will quickly tell you as much. I will grant that there’s some appeal to second-hand smoke. As a former smoker I enjoy it only insofar as it reminds me of nicotine entering my bloodstream; the memory of the pleasure derived from actually smoking is what’s appealing. That being said, I’d argue that smokers don’t enjoy second-hand smoke, they enjoy first-hand smoke.

So who, exactly, would find this ad appealing? Not current smokers, they’d just as well light up their own butt rather than have some asshole blow smoke in their face. Not non-smokers, who didn’t really exist in 1926 anyway, so they don’t really factor in here. And not former smokers, who would never admit to being that weak also didn’t exist in 1926 (unless they were 6 feet under). By my count that leaves no other groups of people left to find this ad appealing. That makes sense, I suppose.

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