The advertisement I chose for this assignment is one that truly reflects values of the era in which it was produced and shown. This advertisement is one that you would not see shown on any television, computer or smartphone today. The advertisement in question is the now infamous Flintstones “Winston cigarette” ad. In order to understand why this ad is so significant you must first understand who the Flintstones were and their place in American popular culture in the 1960’s. The Flintstones were a pop culture phenom in the early to mid 1960’s , being one of the first animated television shows to be featured in a prime time television slot. The character and interactions between them were modeled after the immensely popular sitcom The Honeymooners , with the angry blue collar husband married to the well tempered wife with the bumbling neighbors dynamic lifted directly from that show. These dynamics coupled with some more “adult …show more content…
Because of their popularity The Flintstones likeness was used to sell everything from breakfast cereal to chewable vitamins. With much of the merchandise being sold directed towards kids even up to this very day it would come as a shock to many that The “Winston Cigarette” ad was created by Winston cigarette company in order to use the popularity of The Flintstones and other popular cartoons of the day to help sell their merchandise, in fact Winston helped fund the first two seasons that the Flinstones produced. The Winston company uses the appeal of The Flintstones characters as a marketing device to gain interest from the viewer. Typically, advertisers would have to create their own mascot that embodied the spirit of their brand