Informative Speech on Smoking Cigarettes: Women’s Issue

Who Put the Cigarette in the Hands of Women?

Under western culture, lots of women became hooked on smoking all through World War I. Tobacco was named an effective anti-depressant that was required for the participants of military actions. Ergo, the nurses and radio operators (the representatives of the female sex, at most) smoked like chimneys equally with men.

Anyway, before the start of 1930s, women who smoked in public spaces were widely condemned. Women were permitted to smoke only at home, indoors. The cigarette was a privilege for the man only. Who or what changed a length of the tobacco history?

Edward Louis Bernays, also known as “the father of public relations, ” was a magician who pulled the strings so that you can raise the sales of the American Tobacco Company. This provider was one of many leaders in the marketplace of tobacco products. Once, the analysts of the organization noticed that the trading volumes stopped rising and got stuck on a particular level. The sales manager of the company George Washington Hill decided to hire Edward Bernays, who had already been fabled for his unorthodox methods of conducting the business. The clear answer of the PR-genius was simple: men wouldn’t smoke more cigarettes than at the time; that’s why it was required to concentrate the interest on the feminine audience.

George Hill entrusted Edward Bernays to increase the amount of “Lucky Strike” buyers among women. As stated above, female smoking was unacceptable for western society in the 1920s. Step one of the ambitious marketing campaign was to provide smoking being an efficient weight-loss habit. The strategy was quite successful as a slim figure was a cherished perfect for every American female at the start of the 1930s. But the success was partial: the women began to smoke more but, still, not on view.

In the united states at the beginning of the 20th century, the women’s liberation movement started initially to pick up steam. The activists fought for the equal rights for women and the emancipation in all spheres of social life. Edward Bernays suggested that he can use this movement for the campaign’s profit. He hired a few women and provided them with unusual directions. They had to light their cigarettes in public places during the Easter Sunday Parade of 1929. Bernays also hired photographers in order to acquire some professional photos that later became widespread around the world. Each time a group of good-looking women started initially to smoke in public places, all people around were shocked. The journalists got the definite answer: the cigarettes in the hands of the women were the symbol of liberty. Later, they certainly were called the “torches of freedom. ”

Consequently, the campaign aimed at the boosting of the trading volumes of “Lucky Strike” created a complete new tendency. The scenes with smoking women begun to appear in Hollywood movies. The cigarette became not only the symbol of freedom but additionally sexuality, independence, and mystery.

This real-life example demonstrates the fantastic power of advertisement. Be cautious and don’t let the admen trick you!