Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz we’re both lifelong smokers. Phillip Morris sponsored the I Love Lucy and promoted cigarettes regularly in commercials and print ads (and even on their show).
It is indeed shocking by today’s standards that two of the most trusted faces in America advertised deadly tobacco – but so many people smoked that to participate in advertising to have them consider another brand did not seem wrong, and people usually didn’t make the decision to smoke because of advertising, or so it seemed.
During the 1950s, it was common for TV shows to have direct sponsorships from companies, and I Love Lucy was sponsored by Philip Morris. As a result, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz appeared in several commercials and promotional materials endorsing the brand. These advertisements often featured them in character as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, leveraging their popularity to promote the cigarettes.
The campaigns were typical of the era, with glamorous images of the stars holding or smoking Philip Morris cigarettes, accompanied by slogans and taglines that emphasized the quality of the product. Despite the shift in public perception of smoking over the decades, these ads are a part of the history of early television and the celebrity endorsement culture of the time.
0 comments:
Post a Comment