We first meet Don in a restaurant, questioning a man about his brand of cigarettes. We are introduced to his intriguing personality and wit when he tries to convince the man to switch to Lucky Strikes. This brand of cigarettes was prominent in this time period and was first introduced in the early 1900s. Consistent with Mad Men, the slogan "It's Toasted" was a real campaign run to advertise how their cigarettes were made better than others. Like this strategy, Lucky Strike used various methods in an attempt to dominate the tobacco industry such as changing its design from green to white, using both images and radio to reach the public, and broadcasting testimonials. Mad Men gives us a look into the brains and ideas behind some of these campaigns and the process that goes into selling what is considered a "dangerous" product. Today unfiltered Lucky Strike cigarettes are still sold in the United States.
The ad image above appears at the following link: Adclassix.com. For another Lucky Strike advertisement, see this link at Cigarettespedia.
The sample poster advertising the Lucky Strike cigarettes seems to target two specific consumers but it may also attempt to attract the same consumer at two different levels. During the 1950s and early 60s, war veterans would build their own houses and move to the suburbs. This became a popular trend because many government subsidies were provided for war veterans to move to the suburbs. The ad depicts a suburban husband plus requests Lucky Strike customers to buy war bonds, hence appealing to veterans, soldiers and Armed Forces supporters; usually them being veterans and suburban husbands.
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