Paige Nicholas
English 102
Ad Analysis
Dr. Sloane
September 22, 2009
An Onslaught of Misconception
Dear Mr. CEO of Tipalet Cigarettes,
As CEO of your company, I feel that it is your duty to stand up and stop the publication
of advertisements that may give people false impressions and expectations of your product.
In this particular ad, http://www.unsoughtinput.com/index.php/2007/06/26/amusing-oldfashioned-advertisements-cigarette-ads/, there are numerous misconceptions and fallacies being
displayed. The false messages created by this advertisement affect society in a negative way. The
three largest fallacies that are found in this ad are post hoc/propter hoc, non-sequitur, and
overgeneralization.
Post hoc/propter hoc is the largest misconception given to the public about your product.
The lettering across the advertisement, “blow in her face and she’ll follow you anywhere,”
allows people to develop a false expectation for your product. The statement gives men the
impression that if he blows cigarette smoke into a woman’s face, she’ll go anywhere with him.
The cause and effect in the advertising statement is a complete fallacy. The use of sex appeal in
your advertisement makes men feel that the simple task of just smoking your product can make
any girl want to follow them home.
The thought of any woman falling for a man who blows cigarette smoke in her face is not
logical at all. The idea behind the use of your product greatly possesses a non-sequitur fallacy.
You seriously think that a woman in today’s society would follow a man absolutely anywhere
after he blow smoke in her face? The more logical response of a woman in today’s society would
be to slap the man. If a man listens to you, and the false expectations you are giving of your
product, there is a great probability that he will end up with a handprint across his face.
The advertisement also contains the use of overgeneralization. You allowed the ad to put
women into one general category. The use of overgeneralization gives men the wrong impression
and allows them to think that all women would follow them home, as long as he blew the smoke.
To say that all women would do this gives a completely false impression. I know for a fact that I
wouldn’t. Most women in today’s society would find it rude of a man to come up and “blow
smoke in her face”. More than likely there is an extremely low number of women who would
follow a man home after he blew smoke in her face. Why would you publish an ad giving the
impression that all women would? I don’t understand.
As CEO, you should be doing your part in trying to better society, instead of advertising
your product with its many false expectations and false impressions. I suggest that you reprint
this ad for your product, but not until all the fallacies are removed. Additions to the ad should
include the effects the use of the product has on one’s health. If I asked as the CEO of Tipalet
Cigarettes to reprint this particular ad I would include this picture,
as well as a thinking bubble coming from the woman’s head. The thinking bubble would say,
“Thanks for the secondhand smoke, you jerk!” As a woman who happened to come across one of
your advertisements, I thank you for your time. Be truthful to society.
Sincerely,
Paige Nicholas