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ED INK: Bring Back Burma Shave

Removed as we are from the major infestations of outdoor advertising that

radiate out from New York City along the turnpikes and thruways, Newtown's few

billboards tend to take us by surprise when they do pop up along the

roadside... " We now interrupt the landscape to bring you this message ."

For a short time this month, Winston cigarettes interrupted the landscape on

Mount Pleasant and on South Main Street to bring motorists the truly tasteless

message that Winstons were "finally, a butt worth kissing." It seems like

we've come a long way (baby), since we passed those Burma Shave signs years

ago. Though R.J. Reynolds, the makers of Winstons, had finally stumbled on an

image that more accurately reflects the life-enhancing properties of its

product than other cigarette ads we've seen, it was still gross and offensive.

Evidently, many people thought so, too, because R.J. Reynolds canceled the

"butt" ad campaign abruptly. The billboard ads came down even before we had a

chance to photograph them.

Of course, the replacement ad -- a return to Winston's "No Bull" ad campaign

-- isn't much better. We all know that in the context of this ad, Bull is the

shortened version of a familiar and profane compound word. Apparently the

scatologists hold sway in R.J. Reynolds' advertising agency, which some might

think appropriate for a disgusting product that ruins health and shortens

lives.

Clearly this approach to product promotion is geared to be attractive to young

people. The cigarette companies know that 80 percent of all smokers start the

habit before the age of 18. Now that Joe Camel -- another R.J. Reynolds

creation -- has been discredited (parody ads now depict him as "Joe Chemo"),

the company has resorted to hip bathroom talk to attract new young customers.

Fortunately, most of the kids we know are smarter than that; they resist being

manipulated by corporate types.

R.J. Reynolds may think they have covered their "butt" ads once and for all,

and that people will forgive and forget. We won't be happy, however, until all

the cigarette ads come down from the signs on Mount Pleasant and South Main

Street and are replaced by ads for a product that actually has a useful

purpose -- like Burma Shave.