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Analysis Of An Ad: Kiss My Ash

This is an ad for a Finnish anti-smoking campaign by the Cancer Society of Finland. Anti-smoking ads have a common theme of being outrageous, so as to captivate their audience and send a clear message across. Similarly, this ad induces a sense of shock and even disgust in the viewer. To ensure a clear and unambiguous message, the cultural background of the target audience must be considered. In this case, the campaign targets people from all age groups, smokers as well as non-smokers. As such, the poster contains subjects that everyone in general can relate to. A quick glance shows an image of an open mouth filled with cigarettes, and a URL below it – a rather basic layout. Somehow we are able to deduce that the message being sent out from this deceptively simple poster is that “smoking is bad”. How did we arrive to that conclusion? Let us take a closer look at the ad.

The viewer’s eye is drawn to the image first , composing of two main subjects: the open mouth and the cigarettes; both of which provide several signs. The disembodied mouth is open in an unnaturally strained and exaggerated manner. Reading this sign is simple. Anybody who attempts to open their mouth to such a degree will find themselves suffering from a dislocated jaw probably, and a lot of pain definitely. Pain itself is a signified that implies the consequence of smoking.

Another signifier is the bright pink lipstick worn on the lips. The symbolism is one of glamour and sex appeal, which coincidentally is the image that cigarette companies have been trying to portray of smoking. In that case, why the specific use of pink instead of the more common red lipstick? Along with the impossibly white teeth, pink gives the feeling of artificiality. Combine this with the previous signifier and we get a completely different message: the glorified image of smoking is an illusion. We are reminded that any positive associations with smoking are false. Let us take a step back and study the overall picture....