In the cigarette ad, there is no hidden penis airbrushed on the woman's back. It is simply lights and subtle shadow. The not so hidden double entendre is in the actual cigarette hard box. One of the middle cigarettes is raised in a not so subtle show of masculinity. The soft pack, hard pack line was in reference to the actually boxes.

[edit for spelling]

[edit on 7/9/2006 by maria_stardust]

I can see how it might look like a hidden penis on her back, but that's just from the lighting. I doubt they airbrushed her back to look like a penis.

his hand is still in an awkward position, the thumb isnt even touching her back, like it would normally

I do believe it's airbrushed to look like a penis. Check out the lights in the background on the right side...

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I do believe it's airbrushed to look like a penis. Check out the lights in the background on the right side...

i have seen the ad before and have been pointed out to the fact that there is a "phallus" on the womans back but i have never noticed the candles. thats good spotting by you

There is nothing airbrushed on the woman's back. It is simply a subtle shadow. Besides, what purpose would it serve? This particular ad is aimed at an affluent male demographic. The message is buy our cigs and you'll have hot babes crawling all over you. Or more simply put, cigarettes + rich guy = throphy girl. There is no room for cigarettes + rich guy touching a phallus = any kind of girl.

The only less than subtle imagery, is that of the hard pack of cigarettes with a raised stick.

Originally posted by maria_stardust
Besides, what purpose would it serve?

That's the whole purpose of 'subliminal' advertising. You're not really supposed to see it consciously. But your subconscious mind registers it and triggers a feeling of sexual pleasure. Yes, the woman is all over him. That's the conscious message, but the subconscious message is pure sexual pleasure.

And did you miss the lights in the background?


[edit on 21-7-2006 by Benevolent Heretic]

I think about it like this. Why wouldnt there be something very subtle or almost invisible on the womans back, or in the lights? It could easily be denied, I mean its just a shadow afterall.

The tobacco industry is big business, and will do whatever they can for an advantage. Think about the ad designer showing the benson & hedges marketing execs the ad and hidden messages. I bet they would go for it knowingly if they thought it gave them an advantage even a tiny one. You're talking about guys who would probably get their mom smoking if it meant more profits

[edit on 21-7-2006 by warpboost]

As a person who's been in marketing and advertising for nearly 15 years, as an art director, I am absolutely convinenced that the only subliminally suggestive image in that ad is within the hard pack of cigarettes. There is no airbrushing of a penis on her back. It is all set lighting, I've directed enough photo shoots to know.

Also, the lights on the chandelier appear that way because of a photographic technique referred to as depth of field. The effect is acheived through an intense focus of your subject on the foreground, causing everything out of the focused range to have a soft, blurred appearance.

I know there are ads floating around out there overloaded with sexual innuendo. While this ad does contain sexual references, the airbrused back and orgy chandelier are not part of it. You can look at just about any ad or photograph long enough and see things that weren't intentional. It is akin to seeing angels, demons and faces in clouds of smoke.

Is that Tony Danza holding an airbrushed member? Yep, I think it is.

they almost placed the two zeros where the mans testes would b, maybe a little high but after giving her a little back massage im sure the zeros would drop back into place. im just goofing , peace.

Any kind of imagery which our brain relates to sex, for example an erect penis, will cause sexual excitement. This in turn wil cause an unconscious yearning for the product displaying the penis.
Men, possibly moreso than women, are extremely attentive toward anything sexual, and as the ad is aimed at men we get the sexual innuendo.

A beautiful woman draws our eye, we look over her and our eyes take in the sight of the penis without even realising it. We become inexplicably aroused and think "Hmmm, maybe I should start smoking"

Originally posted by JackofBlades
Any kind of imagery which our brain relates to sex, for example an erect penis, will cause sexual excitement. This in turn wil cause an unconscious yearning for the product displaying the penis.
Men, possibly moreso than women, are extremely attentive toward anything sexual, and as the ad is aimed at men we get the sexual innuendo.

A beautiful woman draws our eye, we look over her and our eyes take in the sight of the penis without even realising it. We become inexplicably aroused and think "Hmmm, maybe I should start smoking"

And all this time I thought you were supposed to smoke AFTER you got the woman

Originally posted by JackofBlades
Any kind of imagery which our brain relates to sex, for example an erect penis, will cause sexual excitement.

I am a man. The sight of another man's inflamed weewee does not excite me. Therefore I dispute your statement; can you supply scientifically credible proof of it?

This in turn will cause an unconscious yearning for the product displaying the penis.

This contention does not obviously follow from the earlier statement. Is it just naive Freudian speculation on your part, or can you supply scientifically credible proof of it?

Subliminal advertising is a nonexistent bogey. Still, it's nice to see that my former line of work retains its aura of evil glamour. The true relationship between advertising and sex doesn't appear in the media; it is best appreciated towards the end of a campaign launch party, when the egos-on-sticks have got themselves nice and squiffy.

Originally posted by Astyanax
I am a man. The sight of another man's inflamed weewee does not excite me. Therefore I dispute your statement; can you supply scientifically credible proof of it?

Ill have a search later but Im sure I read that the male connects with the phallus and the female connects with the vulva. Yes, doesnt sound right but it is and make sense, why would a man connect with the vulva with sexual excitement, when he gets his excitement from the phallus? Advertisers know much more about us than we do. Not many men will be happy to know that the erect phallus is aimed at them and not women and vice versa of course.

The idea of course isnt that it is another mans' weewee, it is yours, at least in your head

Dae has it right.

We aren't arroused because its a penis, we are aroused because it represents sexual pleasure. We, as men, know that the penis brings sexual pleasure and so seeing one makes us think of our penis and seeing an erect one makes you think of the pleasure you get form sex.

Assuming you get pleasure from it