What's your basis for saying the Joe Camel ad campaign was "the most successful ad campaign in history"? I'd guess it is way down the list. Even for cigarettes, I imagine The Marlboro Man campaign ranks higher.
Why Pool is devastated by the new Smoking Laws.
- Thread starter Paul Schofield
- Start date
What's your basis for saying the Joe Camel ad campaign was "the most successful ad campaign in history"? I'd guess it is way down the list. Even for cigarettes, I imagine The Marlboro Man campaign ranks higher.
The Joe Camel ad campaign won't show up on any Top 100 successful list. He will never be given that honorable distinction. Joe was vilified and executed. He was accused of being more recognizable than Mickey Mouse to children and prompting teenagers to smoke.
In the closing couple years of it's life, the Joe Camel ad campaign was repeatedly tagged as the most successful ad campaign in history in the media. My guess is that this may have been an alarmist ploy by the anti-smoking crowd to garner further attention. They were determined to bring Joe down.
Joe was pool's best friend. He promoted pool better than anyone and for a longer period of time. He was pool's advertising workhorse. He was playing pool on billboards, hats, shirts, jackets, plates, mugs, glasses, and dozens of other items all over the world. Every time I have a steak, I remember Joe with these handsome salt and pepper shakers.
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Sounds like you're saying the "anti-smoking crowd" falsely called it the most successful ad campaign ... but then you also called it that.
And if the lists include the one cigarette campaign (Marlboro), I see no reason why they would exclude the other (Camel) if it really was one of the top campaigns. Sure, it was big for pool, but maybe not in a grander sense.
That whole topic is subjective. There is no real measure. We can never know. Yes, Marlboro would be recognized. No, the industry would never recognize an ad campaign they deemed underhanded (that shamed and embarrassed their industry).
What matters? The pool industry got a lesson in product identity and advertising. If we want pool to take off again, Joe Camel showed us a way it can be done.
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You got your chickens and eggs backwards Paul.
Smoking doesn't make pool cooler. Pool makes smoking cooler.
The guys who created that joe camel billboard started out with the idea of "we're gonna have joe camel smoking" and then said "ok, but what's he doing while he's smoking? It has to be cool." ...and someone came up with "how about we show him shooting some 8-ball?"
Smoking is part of a certain scene or narrative, where someone can go slumming and enjoy their vices unapologetically. "I'm gonna smoke if I want, drink if I want, and just relax. I'm gonna hang out somewhere a little dangerous, and blend right in. I don't care what my parents or the Mormons think."
What we're talking about is hanging out at a bar. And what bar scene is complete without a bar box?
That joe camel ad doesn't do anything for pool. It helps bars. It encourages someone to hang out, socialize, drink, and have a smoke. It does not encourage them to pick up a stick if they currently have no interest in pool.
Smoking doesn't make pool cooler. Pool makes smoking cooler.
The guys who created that joe camel billboard started out with the idea of "we're gonna have joe camel smoking" and then said "ok, but what's he doing while he's smoking? It has to be cool." ...and someone came up with "how about we show him shooting some 8-ball?"
Smoking is part of a certain scene or narrative, where someone can go slumming and enjoy their vices unapologetically. "I'm gonna smoke if I want, drink if I want, and just relax. I'm gonna hang out somewhere a little dangerous, and blend right in. I don't care what my parents or the Mormons think."
What we're talking about is hanging out at a bar. And what bar scene is complete without a bar box?
That joe camel ad doesn't do anything for pool. It helps bars. It encourages someone to hang out, socialize, drink, and have a smoke. It does not encourage them to pick up a stick if they currently have no interest in pool.
I cut out everything except the line that summarizes your post.
I still find it hilarious that Joe Camel, in the billboard that Paul provided, has his cap on backwards.:grin:
Seriously, no one else caught that? Terry? Anyone? Beuhler?
Yep. I caught it 20 years ago. I guess I can only say "If Joe came in my place to play pool, he would have to turn his hat around". I am sure he would accomodate like everyone has done over the years. LOL
I still find it hilarious that Joe Camel, in the billboard that Paul provided, has his cap on backwards.
Seriously, no one else caught that? Terry? Anyone? Beuhler?
Well, since we've been told that Joe Camel is really just a penis, the baseball cap must be a subliminal message promoting safe sex.
Well, since we've been told that Joe Camel is really just a penis, the baseball cap must be a subliminal message promoting safe sex.
Joe Camel is the ultimate phallic symbol. The Tom Cruise pirouette was not Joe's style.
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It's not really, it's not any of those things. That's what I'm getting at.
People see joe camel at a pool table in that ad, and assume "ok, he's at a pool hall. So this is targeting pool players. Smoking is part of pool."
But I don't think the advertiser is putting joe camel in a pool hall.
He's at a bar, doing what people at bars do... enjoy their smoke, enjoy their drink, and maybe play a little on the bar box.
It's bars that can be a little dangerous, and full of people enjoying their vices. Some people like that sort of place. Those people are the targets of that billboard. It's not targeting actual pool players (where the main point of their evening is to go shoot, not to go drink).
It baffles me that anyone would argue smoke is some necessary component of the pool world. That billboard was offered as proof that smoke and pool go hand-in-hand. But it's actually smoke and bars that go hand-in-hand. And even that is worth debating.
Pool and Smoking. Its even in the Bible. So it must be true.
Excuse me but I think you are mistaken. Joe was a world class player on the big table. Joe performed on the world stage. He was more recognizable than Mosconi, Mizerak, or Reyes. He would throw on a tux and socialize with the best. No one promoted pool like Joe.
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haha, ok, they put joe at world class tournament, where the players shot in a full tuxedo. And yet, you still have it backwards.
How many people (smokers or not) do you think picked up a pool cue as a result of that ad?
Be honest. That ad didn't make anyone pick up a cue. It made them pick up a pack of cigarettes.
Ever see a world champion shooting on TV with a cigarette dangling out of his lips?
Saying joe camel promoted pool is like saying the marlboro man promoted roping steer. My buddies smoke Marlboros but they have ZERO urge to go work on a ranch.
Pool
Here where I live in PA we have no pool halls. If you want to play you have to go to the bar. Smoking is allowed in the bars. I don't smoke and neither does my son who is 19. I can't get him to play me anymore becoz he hates the smell of the bars and all the smoke. I play in a bar league and the vast majority of all the players are over 40. All the new activities youngsters have to choose from are keeping them away from pool.
Here where I live in PA we have no pool halls. If you want to play you have to go to the bar. Smoking is allowed in the bars. I don't smoke and neither does my son who is 19. I can't get him to play me anymore becoz he hates the smell of the bars and all the smoke. I play in a bar league and the vast majority of all the players are over 40. All the new activities youngsters have to choose from are keeping them away from pool.
There is nothing worse than coming home smelling like a dirty wet sock. I smoked for 10 of my 50 years. I haven't smoked in 10 years. What a difference it made in my life to stop. I will say without hesitation that smokers are a smelly, nasty class of people. Good riddance to cigarettes...and to anyone who is too weak to stop.
Muscle up the strength to break free from the nasty carcinogen and enjoy the clean life again. Until then stop whining and let the rest of us enjoy the game without having to deal with your nasty habit.
Poolmouse
Muscle up the strength to break free from the nasty carcinogen and enjoy the clean life again. Until then stop whining and let the rest of us enjoy the game without having to deal with your nasty habit.
Poolmouse
It’s the habit that’s nasty, not the people. You don’t have any weaknesses?