A vintage Benson & Hedge's ad evokes a cheekier (but no less deadly) era of cigarette marketing

Sometimes an ad gets just a little too truthful for its own good.  By the time this 1972 full-pager for Benson & Hedges 100’s ran in Life magazine, smoking was widely understood to be associated with a range of serious diseases. So, sure, let’s equate using our product to jumping out of a plane.  Bought by Philip Morris in 1958, Benson & Hedges is a British brand and still a subsidiary of the American conglomerate Philip Morris International. This ad was part of a larger “favorite cigarette break” campaign that leaned into the fact that Benson & Hedges offered longer cigarettes at the same price point, so people kept accidentally snapping the suckers in two. “Nobody had ever mutilated a cigarette before in American advertising—cigarettes, like automobiles, had always been treated with reverent respect by their manufacturers,” Mad Woman Mary Wells Lawrence wrote in her 2002 memoir “A Big Life (In Advertising).”  “Anything anti-establishment seemed smart in the mid-’60s, so our advertising made Benson & Hedges wildly hip and cool and the cigarette to be seen with.” (Lawrence, the first female CEO listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is still alive at 91. Must not have been a smoker.) But the times? They are a-changin’. Benson & Hedges parent PMI was in the news last week as merger talks between it and Altria Group, another American purveyor of cancer, broke down. Altria itself holds a minority stake in Juul Labs, the embattled e-cigarette maker... Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'

[ Advertising Age | 2019-09-30 09:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #merger talks #minority stake #recent months #memoir

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Taipei 2019: The Fair Opens Amid a Stable Market and an Expanding Kids' Segment

The six-day Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE) kicked off on February 12 with participation from 735 publishing houses and a roster of more than 1,000 events to promote reading and book-related activities. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PubWest Keynote Focuses on Amazon's Dominance of the Book Market

In her speech, Open Markets Institute senior fellow Lina Khan said: “More than any other firm, Amazon depicts how a company can come to monopolize all sorts of markets without triggering scrutiny under our anti-monopoly laws.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indonesia LBF Market Focus offers £5k cultural grants

The National Organising Committee for Indonesia as Market Focus Country at the 2019 London Book Fair is offering grants of up to £5,000 to organisations in the UK for the purpose of staging activities or events that increase public knowledge of Indonesia via the creative sector. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #creative sector


Why Ads.txt Alone Isn’t a Silver Bullet to Cure Ad Fraud

Earlier today, measurement provider DoubleVerify announced it has uncovered a new bot network that perpetrates fraud by circumventing ads.txt protections, an IAB-sanctioned protocol aimed at reducing domain spoofing that was unveiled two years ago. The botnet carries out a sophisticated, unique... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2019-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #silver bullet #earlier today #premium publishers


Gannett Rejects Hostile Bid From Hedge Fund-Backed Group

The newspaper publisher’s board said the $1.3 billion offer “is not in the best interests of Gannett and its shareholders.” But the fight for control is likely to go on. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The German Book Market in 2018, and a Look Ahead to 2019

Following the release of German book market data from 2018, the country's publishers turn their attention to issues facing their industry in 2019. The post The German Book Market in 2018, and a Look Ahead to 2019 appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BuzzFeed, Vice and other outlets slash jobs in a challenging market for digital media

When it debuted in 2006, BuzzFeed quickly became a social media sensation. Its listicles, quizzes and funny videos went viral and created a huge audience online. The New York-based start-up later hired hundreds of journalists to do serious journalism, creating a platform that many saw as the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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China’s Book Market: 2018 in Review and December’s Bestsellers

OpenBook data reveals China's bestselling authors of 2018, growing online book sales, and the strength of backlist titles. The post China’s Book Market: 2018 in Review and December’s Bestsellers appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gov. Gavin Newsom's Facebook ads in swing states stir 2020 speculation

Political ads featuring California Gov. Gavin Newsom are popping up on Facebook in Ohio, Florida and other swing states in the 2020 presidential election, stirring speculation about whether the Democrat is testing the waters for a potential White House run. Newsom, who was sworn into office less... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook ads #swing states


Indies See 2018 Sales Jump 5% with ABA Adding 95 Stores

ABA executive director Oren Teicher said sales at independent bookstores rose 5% in 2018 over 2017, helped by the addition of 95 new stores. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An NFL-backed data firm is launching a sports-gambling marketing company

Sportradar AG, a data provider backed by the NFL and Michael Jordan, is launching a new sports-gambling marketing company, seeking to capitalize on the rapidly growing billion-dollar industry.Called Ad:s, the company will help sports books reach new customers through TV, radio, internet and... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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American Market StatShot Report: Double-Digit Trade Growth in November

Hardback books benefitted the most from the uptick in trade book revenue, with 28.5-percent growth compared to November 2017. The post American Market StatShot Report: Double-Digit Trade Growth in November appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Duckling Who Idolizes Donald Duck Will Melt Your Heart in This Disneyland Paris Ad

Prepare for some cuteness overload. BETC Paris has created an ad star who takes the adorable meter to 11 in a lovely new spot for Disneyland Paris. The setup is both simple and charming: a duckling stumbles across a Donald Duck comic book and becomes infatuated with the Disney icon, even... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2019-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Print market posts fourth consecutive year of value growth

The UK print market has grown in value for a fourth year running, with  2018 showing a marginal volume increase too. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michelle Obama's record-breaking Becoming helps print market soar

Michelle Obama's Becoming (Viking) has held the UK Official Top 50 number one spot for a third week, leaping 26% in volume week on week to shift 116,920 copies for £1.87m in the seven days to the end of 22nd December. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Europe's Book Market Grew Slightly in 2017

In 2017 the 29 member countries of the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) generated €22.2 billion ($25.3 billion) in total sales, a figure up slightly from 2016 after accounting for exchange rate effects. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-12-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Breslin and Kite bolster HQ marketing team

HQ has strengthened its marketing team, taking on Jennifer Breslin and Joanna Kite. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook users cannot avoid location-based ads, investigation finds

No combination of settings can stop location data being used by advertisers, says reportFacebook targets users with location-based adverts even if they block the company from accessing GPS on their phones, turn off location history in the app, hide their work location on their profile and never... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ad buyers: Don’t blame us for the death of the publishing middle class

The demise of Mic has become a cautionary tale for media that relied too heavily on Facebook and tried to be everything to everyone. The post Ad buyers: Don’t blame us for the death of the publishing middle class appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2018-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As the Spanish book market grows, women-led startups fill demand

US sales of children's Spanish-language books rose 6 percent over the past year, while overall Spanish-language books rose 15 percent. As America's demographics continue to change, business-savvy bilingual mothers are creating bilingual books, apps, and videos. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2018-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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