This charming Mata Hari has just completed a fascinating mission behind the cigarette curtain. And now she knows why so many Parliaments smokers want everyone to know their cigarette is special. You, too, will appreciate the crush-proof cigarette case the superb tobaccos the luxurious flavor and above all, the exclusive Filter Mouthpiece that keeps the filter deeply recessed away from your lips. With Parliaments, only the flavor touches your lips!
The copy text refers to this woman as a “charming Mata Hari,” evocative of the exotic dancer and supposed WWI spy whose life story was portrayed by Greta Garbo in the 1931 film Mata Hari. The femme fatale figure would have been largely popular during the 1940s, when film noir was rampant. The text explains that the woman “has just compelted a fascinating mission behind the cigarette curtain.” With her is a tuxedoed man, smoking a Parliament. Her seductive expression, and his satisfied one, along with her corset top and the associations of the Mata Hari with exotic dancing allude to the “mission” as being sexual in nature. The “cigarette curtain” is comprised of cigarettes interwoven with blue and gold beads reminiscent of the colors on the Parliament box. Each of the ads in this campaign features a woman with a large, blue, decorative beauty mark on her cheek. The slogan, “only the flavor touches your lips!” markets Parliaments as a cigarette with a unique recessed filter, which also speaks to the slogan, “You’re so smart to smoke Parliaments,” as the filter was advertised as making Parliaments a safer, more conscientious cigarette.
Female, Filter, Luxury, Male
