Big isn't it?

Without careful scrutiny this ’Big isn’t it’ ad is unlikely to reveal much. But, take note of the arrow on the roadway sign in the centre of the ad. Follow it upwards towards the cliff face. There you will find a carved figure, exceedingly weather worn, but still revealing some of the characteristics of a huge statue. There are actually two such figures. These are highlighted in the rollover image. It is relatively easy to see the toes or claws of the figure on the right of the enlargement. Towards the top of the cliff face is the face. Halfway up, in the genital area of the statue, is a huge, pineapple shaped erection. Big isn’t it? If one wished to follow through the connotations associated with this ad it would take a full five pages. Here is rather humorous one as a starter. There are a pair of statues, they are big. What is the usual common colloquial meaning attached to the phrase ’A Big Pair’?

Additionally one can note that the first figure has an upraised left arm. Furthermore it has an upraised digit finger. Is the ’up yours’ sign intended to be a prime indication of what Philip Morris and their ad agencies think of Marlboro smokers? Or is it one of the artists taking the mickey out of their employer?

Who knows! The ’Big isn’t it’ ad was published a number of time. This would seem to indicate it was a commercially successful ad. Sometimes the scene in the ad was a mirror image of the ad above. The small illustration on the right shows one of the mirror images of the scene presented in the ad commented on above. Comparing the different versions of the ad indicates that artistic alterations were made to whatever was the original. Outcrops of rock appear - and disappear. Artistic ’blasting’ or ’major reconstructive surgery’ apparently took place on the left hand side of the bluff in this instance.

Such constructive efforts undoubtedly helped when the creative artists responsible turned their mind to a real construction scene, as depicted in the ad on the left. Again, this is a ’sexy’ ad if you are aware of, or respond to, the cues that direct your attention. Just as the arrow on the road sign in the ’Big isn’t it’ ad led one to the statue, so the alignment of the cigarette pack, and the architects plans, in this ad directs attention towards the little individual shown in the picture on the right. This steelworker has the great granddaddy of all ’erections’. Proportionally his pecker outstrips that of the statue on the cliff face. Big isn’t it? The ads creators would no doubt argue that the alignment of the pole and the steelworker was coincidental. What do you think? Other Marlboro ads can be found below, under Just Words, and elsewhere on the Subliminal World web site. Look for the Marlboro slideshow in due course. An active link will be placed here when the page is enabled