Collection: Vantage
This theme features ads from “Vantage.” A brand first introduced to national markets in November of 1970, Vantage has a positive connotation to its name. Advertisements from 1980 use the slogan “The Vantage Point” to explicitly tell consumers that everything looks better when smoking a Vantage cigarette. Additionally, “vantage” is reminiscent of the word “advantage,” which convinces consumers that this brand has the advantage over other cigarettes due to its “great taste” and “low tar.” Thus, it implicitly claims to be a healthier cigarette.
Other Vantage ads claimed that smokers should switch to Vantage because they weren’t going to be able to quit, and so they might as well have great taste to match a “low tar” cigarette. The Cancer Society was up in arms over what Vantage called a “candid” ad campaign, finding Vantage’s claim that smokers will inevitably continue smoking to be dangerous and untrue (1).
One industry document explained the name’s power in the following way: "You know what a 'vantage' is, folks . It's an edge – something that gives a guy or gal a little bit extra . . . makes 'em stand out above the crowd. For instance, Hannibal's vantage was elephants . . .Lady Godiva’s was her long hair . . .George Washington could stand up in a boat . . .” (2). Though the speaker has clearly confused the words “advantage” and “vantage,” the mistake is in fact extremely telling. It speaks to the elasticity of message and to the multitude of positive meanings that can be eked out of the name of a product with such negative consequences.
As is the case with the majority of products on the market, brands of cigarettes were named in order to send particular messages to consumers. The brand name “Kool,” for example, not only reminds consumers of the throat-cooling sensation of menthols, but it also speaks to the word’s meaning in slang; to be “cool” is to be hip and trendy. The choice of certain brand names also extends to tobacco companies’ efforts to ease the concerns of worried smokers. Indeed, when the tobacco companies could no longer rely on explicit health claims in their advertisements due to FTC regulation, they developed countless methods to subliminally convey the same message, including brand name.
1. O’Connor J.J. “Vantage’s New Candid Push Causes Contention.” 6 Jan 1972. R.J. Reynolds. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/kcv66a00.
2. Hill, Knowlton. “Public Relations Program Proposed for V-2.” 15 May 1970. R.J. Reynolds. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/cgl18c00.
