English 1020

Nicorette Mini Lozenge

Cigarettes are very addictive, most people who decide to quit smoking want an easy efficient quick way to do so. In the ad I have chosen a man is sitting on a dock saying “cigarette, cigarette, cigarette” all the while not knowing there is a shark eating away at his arm. He chews some Nicorette Mini Lozenges and in an instant he is not thinking about the cigarettes anymore. He realizes there is a huge shark on his arm and proceeds to yell “SHARK” and tries to fight it off. The ad concludes with “Quitting sucks the new Nicorette Mini Lozenge dissolve three times faster to make it suck less helping you quit one cigarette at a time.” This commercial efficiently ties into pathos knowing that people who want to quit smoking want to instantly get their mind off cigarettes and not go through the hardship and trials accompanied with quitting.

     Cigarettes have been around for many of decades and have grown to be a multibillion dollar industry. The reason cigarettes have been such a successful product for so long is because they are highly addictive. They contain pesticides, cadmium, benzene, formaldehyde, nickel, tobacco, ammonia , and nicotine. Nicotine is a very addictive substance that is hard to kick on its own let alone combined with the other thousands of ingredients cigarettes contain. In recent decades scientist have found that cigarettes are not only highly addictive but also very bad for you health. I have listed eight ingredients from thousands in a cigarette and five of the eight have been linked to various types of health problem such as, lung and prostate cancer, leukemia, and birth defects.

Since cigarettes have been found to be unhealthy many have opted to quit smoking. There are also many other reasons people have decided to quit besides its unhealthy consequences. I have found a top ten to quit smoking list from Phillipmorrisusa.com.

Reduce chance of a heart attack or stroke.

Reduce chance of getting lung cancer, emphysema, and other lung diseases.

Better smelling clothes, hair, breath, home, and car.

Climb stairs and walk without shortness of breath.

Fewer wrinkles.

Free of morning cough.

Reduce number of cough, colds, and earaches their child will have.

More energy.

Save money.

Have more control over their life.

The Quit Smoking Hub states that an estimated 26 million men and 23 million women in the United States are smokers. In 1998, 34% of 46 million smokers attempted to quit and less than 10% of that 34% actually succeeded. Nicorette knows its hard for people to quit smoking. The people that are trying to quit smoking are their target audience and they came up with the Nicorette Mini Lozenge’s for them.

     The point of the Nicorette Mini Lozenge Shark commercial is to show those people that they spend entirely to much time thinking about cigarettes. They spend so much time thinking about cigarettes that they are oblivious to what is going on around them. The ad is appealing to its target audience because it is highly likely that they have experienced this before on their journey to quit smoking. Of coarse they have not experienced sitting on a dock thinking of cigarettes and then a shark jumps out the water and attacks them. However they probably have experienced a time while trying to quit smoking cigarettes their minds were so enwrapped in the thought of smoking a cigarette that they forgot to do something, or did not pay attention to what was happening around them. Nicorette plays into those peoples subconscious because they knew that even though their situation was not as extreme as the shark, the target audience sitting around thinking of smoking a cigarette has happened before and those people do want a product that will make them stop thinking about cigarettes and be able to take back control of their life.

     This ad may not appeal to a non smoker or a smoker who does not have the desire to quit but it is appealing to those on the path to quitting. Some one trying to stop smoking will want their transition to be smooth and quick. What is more quick than being able to pop a few Mini Lozenge’s in their mouth and stop thinking of cigarettes. The commercial isn’t logical in the way that as soon as they chew for a few seconds all of their thoughts of cigarettes will magically go away. With every product there is a chance of it not working or it will probably take a few minutes to get into their systems. So of coarse this ad obviously does not play into logos but it does play into to pathos. It applies to pathos because what sane person would want to go through withdrawal from cigarettes. They feel emotionally attached to the man sitting on the dock because they think of him as themselves. Therefore if they see a product that shows them as soon as they pop it in their mouth their urge to smoke a cigarette will go away, they will feel they need that product, so their transition to becoming a non smoker will be as smooth as possible. That is how Nicolette was able to sell the Mini Lozenges with such a short simple commercial. They didn’t need a list of reasons why to quit smoking or what affects smoking has on you. Nicorette knew their target audience had already gone through the pros and cons of them continuing to smoke or they wouldn’t have decided to quit. Nicorette just had to show them that they are there to help their transition be as smooth as it can be.

With the statistics being that the majority of people who attempt to quit smoking will fail, they surely need something that can help them out. I believe people who are trying to quit smoking will buy the new Nicorette Mini Lozenges because, “Quitting does suck and if the new Nicorette Mini Lozenges dissolve three times faster to make it suck less helping them quit one cigarette at a time,” why wouldn’t they buy it?

“Have you ever wondered what is a cigarette?.” Quit smoking support. June 2010.http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/whatsinit.htm. 9/26/10

“Top ten reasons to quit smoking.” Quit Assist. 2004-2009.http://www2.philipmorrisusa.com/en/quitassist/successful/topten.asp. 9/26/10

“Smoking statistic in the United States.” Quit Smoking Hub.http://www.quitsmokinghub.com/smoking_statistics.shtml. 9/26/10