Camel Cigarettes Ads

Here we have a pair of specially commissioned Camel packs. They belong ôo a set of seven, four of which are illustrated in this section (can readers help the author to obtain copies of the other three?). From top to bottom (no pun intended) one can note that the 'hidden' sexual theme associated with Camel Cigarettes is still apparent. The two packs illustrated above appear to be simple variations on the standard Camel pack. This has been reputed to contain a manikin with an erection and various other images. For the manikin, see the Camel's foreleg. This assertion has been discounted a number of times by R.J.Reynolds and others associated with the company. However, it is rather strange that this figure can still be discerned after many years of pack alterations. If it was not intended to be there, and some people find it offensive, then it need not be there. In fact if one views the book Camel cigarette collectibles by Douglas Congdon-Martin, the figure that isn't supposed to exist has become slightly more obvious over the years, rather than less so. On the right is the Camel Filters Hard Pack (as sold in Mexico, 2000). Note that the colouring is markedly different from the illustration on the left (and other versions of the cigarette pack). Yet all show, to some degree or other the manikin and his 'penis'. The pack, in fact, highlights the appendage against a lighter background. Additionally, the author has an ad produced around the same time Camel Cigarettes first appeared. This also would seem to contain embedded elements. The brand is not Camel but the use of the same type of embedding technique early this century would indicate general knowledge within ad companies producing ads for the tobacco industry at this time. Additionally one might note that the American artist Winslow Homer was rather renowned for embedding images in his work (see Winston Homer, the Obtuse Bard). His work may have been the inspiration for some interesting ads during this early period of cigarette advertising.

The third pack shows the Camel logo made up from rather fluffy clouds. Embedded in the clouds are the letters S E X.