Visual Culture and Health Posters

Title:: Man Made Killer

(high resolution jpg) High resolution version (6,897,430 Bytes)

Description:

This poster was created by the World Health Organization, which first took a public position against smoking in the 1970s and subsequently helped countries develop a national plan of action against smoking worldwide. The contrast between the black and white photograph and the color background in this poster reflects the contradictory meanings conveyed by image and text. The poster uses phrasing to challenge the cultural meaning conveyed by the act of smoking. The image of an anonymous and partially lit face in profile, with a hand holding a cigarette up to the lips, evokes the allure and slightly illicit sexiness frequently associated with cigarette smoking in advertising and film. Meanwhile, the bold red lettering expresses an opposite message--that cigarettes are man made killers. There is also a unifying message between image and text, tied to a common theme in commercial advertising: consumer choice. The poster tells the viewer that they can escape the fate tied to the behavior depicted.

NOTE: Slide of original poster image is blurry.

Number of Image Pages:

1 (772,409 Bytes)

Date Supplied:

1980s

Creator:

World Health Organization

Source:

Original Repository: The History of Medicine Division. Prints and Photographs Collection.

This image may also be accessed from the Images from the History of Medicine (IHM).

URL: http://wwwihm.nlm.nih.gov/

IHM Order Number: A024962

Publisher:

World Health Organization

Rights:

Reproduced with permission of the World Health Organization.

Subject:

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH):: Smoking Cessation; Smoking; Public Health

Visual Culture and Public Health Keywords:: The Smoker

Exhibit Category:

Anti-Smoking Campaigns

Unique Identifier:

VCBBDW

Document Type:

Posters

Slides (photographs)

Language:

English

Format:

image/jpeg

image/tif

Physical Condition:

Poor

Metadata Last Modified Date:

2004-08-13

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