Children often times admire their parents a great deal and emulate their every move. Many children aspire to be “just like mommy” or “just like daddy” when they grow up. Parents are the role models in a household and are the source for young peoples habits, behaviors, and view on the world. Unfortunately, many adults fail to realize the tremendous impact they have on the young impressionable people in their lives. An act as common as smoking can negatively influence a small child. Both now and in the future by setting a precedence that smoking is an acceptable behavior. The purpose of this advertisement is to put the dangers of smoking into perspective and underscore the potential impact detrimental habits can have on young impressionable people. It can affect children in order to persuade consumers to quit smoking. By looking at the details of the advertisement including the text, design, contrasting colors, and deeper message we can take away that smoking not only affects the user’s lungs but also affects other people such as children. This is important because the trivialization of smoking is being passed down to future generations. Meaning, smoking is being looked at as no more harmful than opening a box of crayons and drawing in a coloring book. 

The creator of the advertisement wishes to change the perception of smoking by using something as simple as a Marlboro packet. Marlboro is a notorious American cigarette company. The Marlboro packet in the advertisement is easy to identify because Marlboro is a named brand cigarette company. For this reason, the creator of the advertisement chose this brand. The Marlboro packet draws the viewer’s attention to the center of the image with the Rule of Thirds. The Marlboro packet is located near the center of the image with each corner of the box touching the imaginary lines in the Rule of Thirds. In addition, this image is intriguing because a packet labeled Marlboro is expected to hold twenty Class A cigarettes. Instead, the packet is filled with brightly colored Crayola crayons. This surprises and intrigues the viewers and further illustrates the contrast between the innocence of crayons and the poison of nicotine. Underscoring the impact poor decisions adults make and the impact it can have on young impressionable minds. 

The colors of the crayons stand out against the black and white contrasted background. This puts an emphasis on the “crayon box” and suggests that it is an important part of the advertisement. The colors seen in the image such as blue, orange, green, and purple are all playful and childlike. These colors symbolize the liveliness and innocence of the children this advertisement is geared towards. The rest of the image being in black and white represents the absence of life associated with cigarettes because of their power to kill. The illustrator wanted to affect the view even more by portraying death with darkness. The dark black backdrop causes the white text to stand out and draws the viewer in. As the viewer looks closer, they notice text is written in a chalkboard font in order to suggest that is was written with the crayons in the box to coordinate with the theme of the image. The text reads, “Do you want them to take after everything you do? Quit today.” The simplicity of the question and advice make it clear and easy for the observer to understand. The word “everything” is in a larger font size than the rest of the words in the sentence. It stands out and suggests that just because a person may be a smoker, it does not mean everything else they do is setting a bad example for children. The advertisement is not meant to offend smokers, but merely to persuade smokers to considering the idea of quitting smoking. 

The design of the advertisement was carefully and thoughtfully planned out in order to convey the overall message of the visual text. Viewers are known to analyze an image in a clockwise motion starting from the left and going to the right in a circle. The Marlboro box was purposefully placed on the left side of the image therefore making it the first thing our eyes are drawn to. Next, our eyes move to the top right of the image where the question is found. As we continue down the right side of the page the advertisement’s advice is given which states, “Quit today.” This statement is the last line viewer’s read. This is important because it will resonate with the viewer and hopefully leave an impression. 

If one looks closely at the image it is apparent that some of the crayons appear to have been used more than others. The orange, green, and red crayons are worn down while the rest of the colors are perfectly sharpened. The crayons that are worn down will not last as long as the sharpened crayons. Eventually, they will run out of color and the owner will be forced to buy a new pack of crayons. The unsharpened crayons represent the smokers out in the world because just like those crayons, they are not going to live as long as the “sharpened crayons” or the people who choose not to smoke. Even though it is possible to go to the store and buy a new pack of crayons, smokers cannot go to the store and buy a new pair of lungs. Smoking damages lungs and can potentially lead to death. This advertisement recognizes the consequences of smoking and begs the viewer to quit because their goal is to save the next generation’s lives. 

This particular advertisement against smoking is very effective. It takes advantage of the empathy people feel for children. It is human nature to protect children and this advertisement is directly saying children will be put in harms way if they are surrounded with cigarettes. We cannot only relate this message to smoking and drugs, but also to anything we find ourselves doing. Children have people in their lives they constantly look up to and admire. Whether it is a celebrity, athlete, or a parent, we should strive to be more mindful of our actions because our actions affect those around us presently and the generations to come.