WTF is going on in this Newport ad?
Posted by drocolate on May 3rd, 2010
This ad for Newport cigarettes can be found in the current issue of Entertainment Weekly. It raises A LOT of questions. Questions like:
- Who puts mustard on chips?
- In what world or universe or time period would the act of having mustard slathered onto a potato chip be viewed as “pleasure!”?
- What kind of tagline is “pleasure!”? What does that even mean?
- What’s the relationship of these two people? Mother and son? Lover and son? Two random patients at a picnic for the mentally insane? Food pioneers blazing some trail of deliciousness that we’ll all be talking about in ten years? What?
- Where did she get that AWESOME bracelet? She’s so hip.
- And where did he get that sweet graphic tee?
- And what was pictured on the graphic tee that had to be covered up by that just-a-little-too-perfect-looking cup?
- Why do the fingernails on his left hand look so perfect?
Oh wait. I have the answer to this one. It’s because they, like the random cup, were photoshopped to death.
Ok, back to the questions.
- Why does this couple have so much out-of-focus dinner meat on the table in front of them? How many people are at this mustard-experimentation barbecue?
- Does it really take two people to squeeze mustard?
- Are they supposed to be flirting?
- What does any of this have to do with smoking?
- More specifically, what does any of this have to do with smoking Newports?
- And finally, what the hell is going on here? Seriously? What?
This ad is amazing. Between the photoshopped cup (What is it covering up?!? Was he holding something offensive that had to be turned into a cup?!? WHAT?!?) and the overall weirdness of the mustard situation, all I can do is say “WTF?”
If any of you know, please fill me in. Thanks.
Tags: advertising, cigarettes, idiots, WTF is going on in this [BLANK] ad?
…and is that Bill Clinton? oh, guess not…
Lastly: why the heck are you reading Entertainment Weekly?
I love EW. In fact, I love it so much that I sometimes refer to it as “EW”.
I thought it must be advertising those new mustard-flavored Newports that leave me feeling alive with pleasure. You cant spell Mustard or eMphysema without Mmmmmmmm.
Y’all are missing the point. Think of how cheap Newport’s marketing is! All they have to do is hire some cheap talent (i.e. porn actors and/or, more appropriately, Newport News models) to smile and pose awkwardly, and finally they use the same “pleasure!” headline every time. BAM: cheap-as-hell advertising. See also: “Alive with pleasure.”
I actually like mustard and chips. Mayo and french fries, curry and potatoes. I’m a little weird though.
I am honestly not trying to be racist AT ALL, but the biggest question of all is why it is aimed at white people?! I used to smoke Newports, and I have never met a white person who takes me seriously when I say that.
The shirt is a Journey shirt, near as I can tell. Make of that what you will.
As for the mustard, COM’ON people! Cigarettes have been symbols of the phallus, power and sexuality and advertised as such for many decades. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awO2gvQSJRE
OMFG! I thought the same thing when I saw this in the grocery store today. I was going to steal the magazine to show it to my coworkers, but there were to many witnesses. Thanks for the post, I have been LMFAO all day!
Why is the magazine page so badly creased and crinkled? Why was it’s reader grasping it so tightly? What were they using it for!?
I was using it as a napkin after having an impromptu mustard and Newports party at my house.
There was mustard everywhere.
I’m calling Utz, they need to make a mustard and mint flavored potato chip.
Harley shirt. And same as ketchup chips?
That’s what I was thinking. Where’s the black people?
I went to high school with the guy in this ad.
I think that these ads have always been hilarious. Look up old ones from the 70s and 80s. I have a bunch of copies of this mustard one if anyone wants to buy them. $$$ bitches
I thought the exact same thing, saw this in two EW magazines over the weekend and said “WTF”, but a valid point was brought up, perhaps this is suggesting… “For people with screwed up taste… Try Newport Pleasure. They’re crap, and because you love crap, you’ll love them!”