BALLYHOO and MAD Magazine
- A major inspiration for this exhibition was MAD Magazine. First published by William Gaines as a comic book in 1952, MAD, originally edited by Harvey Kurtzman then by Al Feldstein from 1957 to 1985, was the spiritual successor to BALLYHOO, a humor magazine (published on and off between 1931 and 1954) aimed at a college-age readership. BALLYHOO was one of the first periodicals to publish trenchant parodies of cigarette advertisements.
- After converting to a magazine in 1955, MAD continued this tradition, parodying cigarette advertising and mocking the tobacco industry for decades while most print media, including The New York Times, TIME Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and Newsweek courted tobacco companies for their lucrative cigarette advertising dollars in full-page ads in theUS Tobacco and Candy Journal, an industry trade magazine.
- MAD, which did not accept advertising in its eight issues a year from 1957 to 2001, ridiculed the industry’s health claims for cigarette filters, weak warning labels on cigarette packs, and tobacco industry executives who testified in Congress that nicotine is not addictive. At its peak in 1974, MAD achieved a circulation of 2.1 million. The rise of the internet deeply cut into print magazine readership. MAD ceased publication in 2018.
BALLYHOO
“For the ‘Occasion’ Smoker…Spugs keep you COOL!”
Parody of SPUD cigarette advertisements
BALLYHOO
October 1931
“Hesterfield”
Parody of Chesterfield cigarette advertisements
BALLYHOO
November 1931
“SNARLBORO”
Parody of Marlboro cigarette advertisements
BALLYHOO
December 1931
“Cream of the Crop”
Magazine advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes, featuring actress Jean Harlow
1932
“Cream of the Crap”
Parody of Lucky Strike cigarette advertisements
BALLYHOO
January 1932
“SCREMO CIGARS”
Parody of advertisements for Cremo cigars, one of the most popular brands of the early 20th century
BALLYHOO
December 1931
“Ducky Wuckies are the nerts”
Parody of Lucky Strike cigarette advertisements
BALLYHOO
January 1932
“SNARLBORO”
Parody of Marlboro cigarette advertisements
BALLYHOO
February 1932
“OLD GOLD’s Pledge to Contestants
Magazine advertisement by the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company
May 1937
“Old Gold Contest”
Letter from the P. Lorillard Company
May 1937
“OLD COLD’S $50,000 CONTEST”
Parody of Old Gold cigarettes advertisements
BALLYHOO
July 1932
MAD Magazine
“You would be one of my top choices for a Nobel Prize in Medicine”
Letter from Alan Blum, MD to William M Gaines, Publisher, MAD Magazine
October 29, 1985
“MAD Magazine an inspiration for tackling the smoking pandemic among adolescents”
Letter from Alan Blum, MD to William M Gaines, Publisher, MAD Magazine
April 24, 1985
“MEN OF AMERICA THE SKID-ROW BUMS CHESTERFIND”
Parody of Chesterfield cigarette advertisements
MAD Magazine
1959
“Parliamatch”
Parody of Parliament cigarette advertisements
MAD Magazine
October 1959
“SOME MAD DEVICES FOR SAFER SMOKING”
Satire
MAD Magazine
December 1964
“WGHY NOT WARNINGS ON ALL PACKAGES!”
Satire
MAD Magazine
December 1964
“THE MAD NON-SMOKERS HATE BOOK”
Satire
MAD Magazine
July 1971
“THE GREAT CIGARETTE FILTER TIP WAR” (2 pages)
Satire
MAD Magazine
June 1964
“THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY NO NO-SMOKING”
Satire
MAD Magazine
October 1979
“When You’re Dying for a Cigarette…try a CAMEL”
Satire
MAD Magazine
1968
“SIX MINUTES LOOK AT…SMOKING” (3 pages)
Satire
MAD Magazine
January 1990
“CHOKE Magazine“
Parody of CHOICE, published by the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company
MAD Magazine
September 1990
“‘You’re the only Doctor I know that still smokes!’
‘I know, Kaputnik… I’m the last of a dying breed!'”
Cartoon
MAD Magazine
March 1990
“Some straight Talk about selling cigarettes to a hostile public.”
Parody of an RJ Reynolds advertising campaign
MAD Magazine
Summer 1991
“MAD INTERVIEWS THE TOBACCO EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR” (3 pages)
Satire
MAD Magazine
December 1995
“THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SMOKER”
Satire
MAD Magazine
August 1995
“MAD‘s Great Moments in Advertising: ‘Since you’re such a Smooth Character, I’ll give it to you straight. You’ve got cancer of the hump.'”
Parody of RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company’s Camel cigarette advertisements featuring Joe Camel as the Smooth Operator.
MAD Magazine
August, 1995
“THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY’S SECRET MARKETING PLAN FOR ATTRACTING YOUING SMOKERS”
Satire
MAD Magazine
November 1996
“CIGAR Addictionado“
Parody of CIGAR Afficionado Magazine
MAD Magazine
June 1998
“Only A True Cigar Lover”
Parody
MAD Magazine
June 1998