LeonhardtAnalysis 1

Logan Leonhardt
Caruso UWRT 1101
UWRT 1101Caruso
3 June 2014
Smoking Gun
As we all know, cigarette ads are all over the place. They are on billboards, TV
commercials, the radio, magazines, and at many other locations. This particular ad against
smoking could attract many audiences just by how each one analyses it. This ad is essentially
warning people against smoking cigarettes. There are many things someone could take away
from it depending on what audience they fit into.
Such as a smoker would see this as a warning to quit smoking and non-smokers would
take this as a warning to never start smoking. Pparents would be an audience because of the age
of how young the male looks within this advertisement., Ssellers, and even artist are all possible
targets from this ad. This ad easily draws much attention to it. For many of these groups it brings
fear and worry. For the other groups it could upset them or be seen as a piece of artwork. This ad
really does speak for itself with the colors and text that is shown.
While looking at this ad it is very hard to miss how monotone and discouraging it looks.
The first thing that is noticed about this ad would be how discouraging it looks. This color
scheme immediately lets viewers know that this ad is not portraying joy and happiness. It lets us
ponder at how black, white, and gray colors schemes can remind us of death or sadness. It almost
seems as if this darkness is indicative of something much more detailed such as cancer or
disease. You can almost double the chance of getting lung cancer when you smoke a cigarette.
Commented [LL1]: Formatting errors. MLA
Commented [LL2]: This particular part of the paper was
changed because I felt as if the original transition was too
steep and too big of a change. By ending the introduction
paragraph with a statement about the audiences it makes it
a smoother transition. At the beginning of the second
paragraph I started off by making a list of the audiences and
I did not even state how they viewed this advertisement as
an audience member.
Commented [LL3]: At the end of this paragraph my
instructor simply gave me a question as to how it speaks for
itself. The color and the text that is within the
advertisement is how self-explanatory it is. Now that I look
at it, it makes a lot more sense to the reader by adding that.
Commented [LL4]: When I reread the original sentence at
the beginning I noticed two things: 1. It was a terrible
transition and 2. The structure of the sentence did not
sound right. I changed the sentence first off to make since
and then constructed it to be a transition sentence. I also
included the word monotone because it gives more detail as
to why it is so discouraging.
Commented [LL5]: When I received feedback on this
assignment Jason told me to go into more detail with what
the color could possibly mean. When I was revising my
paper for the final due date I could not think of another
possible reason as to why the color would be so dark. When
attempting to critically think about this same aspect of the
image in the next project that correlated to the rhetorical
analysis I dug very deep and found a connection. Being that
I had already mentioned it meant sadness, death and
sickness struck me as one of the saddest things to occur to
someone. I approached this change by getting the facts of
smoking and adding that you have twice the chance of
getting cancer when smoking.
LeonhardtAnalysis 2

This aspect of the ad would definitely apply to some of all the audiences. The darkness of this ad
really sets the tone for the overall message. From what is being portrayed in the ad, death from a
cigarette is the idea that is usually seen. The monotone colors represent that of death.
It almost seems as if this man is on the brink of transferring over into the darkness that is
just behind him. He seems to be looking into the light as if it is an escape from smoking. The
light that is in front of this man could be his life before he started smoking and the darkness in
the background would be his life as a smoker with death and destruction in the future. He almost
looks as if he is looking toward the light reminiscing on his life before he became a smoker just
as any smoker would. He looks like his eyes are begin to water while looking back on those days
when he had no complications because he didnt smoke. This goes for all smokers that know
they shouldnt be smoking but cannot quit.
As for non-smokers, this Viewing this as a non-smoker truly would lead them away from
even thinking about smoking. Who would want to be in a life full of darkness where you never
know which cigarette could end everything for you, always being on edge about it? As non-
smokers they would never want to give up their lives of being able to live and not worrying
about lung cancer or any kind of illness. The amount of black in the background looks like
nothing but pure death and it seems that this man is smoking his way there due to darkness
starting to take over his face on the left side.
When looking at this picture a gun is created out of the smoke from the cigarette. This
particular part of the ad is a man theme. The gun is just not there to fill in the darkness but it is
there to make us wonder what the man is and could be doing to his life without any knowledge
of it. Some can take this gun as being dangerous, scary, or even very pretty! It just depends on
audience that person fits in.
Commented [LL6]: I took out the word all because it
does not fit.
Commented [LL7]: When I wrote the darkness of this ad
really sets the tone for the overall message. I did not
display how it did so. I also added this because death comes
from sickness which was a point that I made in this new
revision.
Commented [LL8]: Once again this revision is changing
the transition and making the sentence structure work
together properly.
LeonhardtAnalysis 3

Smokers can only take this one way. The way the smoke forms into a gun is almost
ironic; can it not do the same damage as a cigarette can do? Smoking the cigarette is pretty much
like committing suicide on themselves. When smoking cigarettes people know the possible
outcomes from doing so but they might not know the extent of it; this is the same case with
suicide. When someone tries to commit suicide they know what they are doing to themselves but
they just dont care or they dont think of the outcome and how it could affect others or
themselves in the future.
Looking real closely at the gun you realize that the gun looks as if it has already been
fired due to the smoke coming out of the barrel. By smoking each and every cigarette a person
could be firing away to end their life without knowing. Essentially this aspect is portraying a
cigarette can be just as dangerous as a gun can be. Smokers would take awaylearn that they
really need to think twice about smoking another cigarette. This could make non-smokers very
thankful that they have not picked up the habit of smoking.
The gun is actually the only real artistic thing about this ad. It is very pretty and could
come across to artist as a piece of artwork. The cigarette companies would see this gun and be
very upset and offended. They would see this as a threat to their company. The gun comes across
as vulgar and a threat because of how other people view this.
While looking at the individual in this ad, his glaring eyes stand out. something really
stands out. His eyes make him look very innocent and young. The glare of his eyes make you
sympathetic in a way where you want to help him. For parents and guardians, this definitely hits
home. Everyone knows that most parents are very protective over their children. This comes
across to parents as a warning and a major warning considering the whole ad. No parent wants to
lose their kid at all, let alone to a choice they make knowing the risks they are taking. Parents
Commented [LL9]: In this paragraph where I spoke about
the gun looking as if it had already been fired I did not think
deep enough.
Commented [LL10]: I removed this because it acted as a
filler and it did not need to be there.
LeonhardtAnalysis 4

could be a little stricter on letting their children smoke and if they couldnt stop them from
smoking, at least warn them about the risk they are taking while doing it.
It is very easy to notice that there are no hands in this image. Most people hold their
cigarettes while it is in their mouths; this guy just casually lets it hang out of his mouth. If
smokers didnt know already this is a warning to let them learnknow that it is addictive and once
you become addicted someone becomes addictive they cannot stop or go a day without it in their
mouths. As for non-smokers, it comes across to them just as it does for smokers almost. Once
you start, it is easy to get easily addictive and once you are addicted then your hands are
uselessly out of the picture because you cannot force yourself to take it out or stop. It is very
simple to understand from both groups. It is a very scary thing that something can be so addictive
that you cannot put it down. It is very simple to understand from both groups. The text in this
advertisement also stands out to both of these groups.
Kill a cigarette and save a life, yours. This quote is positioned at the sets at the bottom
of the advertisement. It is essentially comesing off as backwards to the smokers because the
smokers kill the cigarette after they smoke it which could be too late. Knowing they should put it
down and stop to possibly save their own lives would be the ideal thing to do for their own good.
Non-smokers could see this as an initiative to think twice before taking that first puff because
what lies behind it is turmoil.
Once again cigarette companies and sellers think of this quote as a threat to potentially
slowing down their business. To them it is telling them about how they should stop selling their
product because essentially it is killing people. When they seeing this they feel like they need to
get better ads and think of better ways to promote cigarettes.
Commented [LL11]: Here I moved it is very simple to
understand from both groups behind the sentence that
starts out with It is a very scary thing that I also added
that sentence in because I needed to mention how the
audiences felt about this aspect of the ad. I also added the
last sentence so that I could make the transition to the next
paragraph sound like it flowed.
Commented [LL12]: This revision was made to make the
sentence more structured. Using sets at the bottom
makes it seem as if it placed its own self there for no reason.
LeonhardtAnalysis 5

As you can see, these cigarette ads catch the attention of many people of all types. All
aspects of this advertisement from the monotone color, the young man, and the gun influence the
audiences to ponder at what the ad really means to them. Those types include smokers, non-
smokers, parents, young people, sellers and companies. They are all very different types of
audiences in the things they do and how they view it. They all come across thingto people with
different perspectives but the message to each audienceone is the same.








Commented [LL13]: My conclusion did not include what
aspects of this advertisement grabbed the attention of the
intended audiences. Therefore, I added this to give a final
reminder that these certain aspects attracted the major
audiences.