Cigarette Advertising Without Pictures: What Is Philip Morris Up to?

What do the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot and an ultralight cigarette that boasts about “great taste” have in common?

A recent print ad for Merit cigarettes supplied this answer: You’ve heard about them, but you don’t really believe that they exist. An anti-smoking lobby has come up with its own reply: All three can kill you.

From a marketing perspective, the question isn’t whether smoking Merits will kill you--or bring you Nirvana. The real question is: What image is the brand trying to convey in its advertising? On that count, Philip Morris, which makes Merit, is up to something so unusual that all the other cigarette makers are watching closely.

Some believe that Philip Morris is using Merit as a guinea pig for the sort of cigarette advertising--without pictures of sexy women and rugged cowboys--that may eventually be mandated by law. Others say Merit is simply trying to stand out by creating a very hip image for the brand by using words--not pictures.

In one recent two-page ad in Rolling Stone magazine, a giant headline next to a pack of Merits simply says, “Flavorzilla”--a made-up word that is a takeoff on Godzilla. In Spin magazine, another Merit headline simply proclaims, “Flavor happens,” a clear takeoff on a popular phrase.

And a recent Merit ad in People magazine is littered with word plays and tongue-in-cheek messages such as: “People who smoke Merit know that consomme isn’t what a French couple does on their wedding night.”

“The ads are like rap music without the video,” said David G. Altman, a medical and market researcher at Stanford University. “It’s cigarette advertising as street talk.”

For years, the big cigarette makers have relied almost exclusively on very strong visuals--such as the macho Marlboro man and the sophisticated Virginia Slims woman--to create images for their brands. More recently, Camel cigarettes introduced a silly-faced cartoon camel that has helped bolster the brand’s market share.

“When you see a cigarette ad, it’s so clear to you that it’s a cigarette advertisement that sometimes you don’t really see it,” said John Banzhaf, executive director of the anti-smoking lobby Action on Smoking and Health. “While all the other cigarette makers are using powerful visual images, here’s someone who says, ‘Let’s try a different way to be hip.’ ”

But does it work? Clearly, Merit executives believe that they can win over new smokers by substituting clever words for pretty pictures. And if the relatively low-budget campaign is successful, marketing experts say, it could eventually have a profound effect on all cigarette advertising.

“To create an image without a visual association is very difficult,” said Bernd Schmitt, a business professor at Columbia University who specializes in consumer behavior. “But if they can successfully break through the clutter with this, we may see more of it.”

Of course, not everyone thinks it’s a great idea. “It sounds pretty stupid to me,” said Nancy Shalek, president of the Los Angeles-based Shalek Agency. “People who are really hip don’t like other people mimicking them.”

Executives from Philip Morris declined to comment on the campaign. So did executives at archrival RJR Nabisco. But marketing experts and anti-smoking advocates generally agree that the campaign is among the most unusual that the tobacco industry has devised in years. And the advertising agency that created it, Leo Burnett, happens to be the same one that concocted the Marlboro man 30 years ago. Executives of the agency also declined to comment.

Beyond looking for attention in a crowded marketplace, Merit may also be looking toward the future.

Legislation has been proposed that would eventually limit cigarette print advertising to a so-called “tombstone” format--showing only the package and black-and-white text. Although that proposed legislation was further weakened by a House subcommittee last week, most executives believe that a tougher version is inevitable.

“I suspect Philip Morris is just now beginning to experiment with the tombstone format,” said Joe Tye, president of the Springfield, Mass., anti-smoking group Stop Teen-age Addiction to Tobacco. When cigarette advertising was banned from television and radio in 1971, Philip Morris was generally viewed to be well ahead of the competition in its plans for billboard and print ads.

Now, it may be trying to pull ahead of the crowd again. But this time things may not be as easy. “It’s much harder to portray an image verbally than pictorially,” said Joel Steckel, a professor of marketing at Columbia University. “To be frank, it sounds like a very confusing campaign.”

Magazine Debuts for West Coast Ad Types

Once again, a magazine written for advertising agency creatives is giving the West Coast a whirl.

The latest entry is Flash, a Chicago-based bimonthly that is offering a West Coast edition with a smattering of regional Los Angeles ad news. It will try to reach a broader audience than Body Copy, the ad industry magazine that suspended publication two months ago.

“We have every intention of being successful on the West Coast,” said R. Patricia Herron, publisher of the magazine that also has rolled out a New York edition this month. Herron declined to reveal the magazine’s start-up costs--or even predict when it will be profitable. But unlike some start-up publications, which have little funding, Flash is owned by the well-financed Macmillan Creative Services Group.

On the West Coast, 10,000 issues of Flash are being sent free to ad agency art directors and others. Nationwide, the circulation is about 30,000. Initially, West Coast-generated advertising looks rather sparse, with only a handful of local companies in the magazine’s first regional issue.

But Flash, which has won dozens of design awards, hopes that it can appeal to the aesthetic sense of Los Angeles. Said Herron, “People like things beautiful in L.A.”

Foote Cone Sniffs Sweet Smell of Success

Does Foote, Cone & Belding smell blood--or perfume?

Last week, the agency was awarded the advertising business for Giorgio’s third(yet-to-be-named) women’s fragrance, which will not hit the shelves until the spring of 1992. Advertising for the first two fragrances, Giorgio for Women and Red for Women, is handled by the Los Angeles agency Eisaman, Johns & Laws.

Not that Eisaman--which has been with Giorgio since 1983--had a particularly bad week. It was awarded the advertising business for Giorgio’s newest men’s fragrance, Red for Men, which will hit the market in June, 1991.

Eisaman also picked up additional business from client Kwikset. The Anaheim-based maker of residential lock sets handed the agency its upscale Italian-made line of lock sets called Valli & Colombo.

Dennis Coe, the agency’s president, declined to reveal the amount of the additional Kwikset business. But industry executives estimate that it could exceed $1 million. In February, the ad firm was awarded Kwikset’s estimated $4-million business.

Moms Are Naturals for Carpooling Spots

Yo, rideshare.

That’s not exactly the message, but Jacqueline Stallone, the outspoken mother of Sylvestor Stallone, is featured in new public service TV spots promoting California’s Rideshare Week, which is the first week in October. Georgia Holt, mother of actress Cher, is also featured in the spots.

The ads encourage motorists who drive alone to try carpooling. During Ridesharing Week, the state will be doling out freebies such as free car washes to selected commuters.

“I’ll tell you what I was notorious for sharing,” Jacqueline Stallone says in one of the spots. “Gossip.”