ABSTRACT Title of Document: MORE THAN LUCK: LUCKY
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ABSTRACT Title of Document: MORE THAN LUCK: LUCKY STRIKE ADVERTISING DURING THE GEORGE WASHINGTON HILL YEARS: 1926-1946 Tyler S. Stump, Master of Arts, 2015 Directed By: Professor Saverio Giovacchini, Department of History From the time George Hill assumed the presidency of the American Tobacco Company in 1926 until his death in 1946, the company spent more money advertising Lucky Strikes than had ever before been spent on a single product. During Hill’s tenure, Americans bought more than 100 billion Lucky Strikes annually. Hill’s carefully engineered and innovative advertising campaigns integrated print, radio, public relations, and other forms of advertising to great success in the 1920s and 1930s as the company sought out a mass audience. By World War II, however, the company changed strategies as it increasingly diversified its advertisements to reflect new conceptions of audience segmentation. This abandonment of a “great mass audience” approach paralleled changes in other cultural industries in this period, demonstrating the significance of advertising as part of the mid-century cultural landscape and emphasizing the genius of the ATC’s marketing. MORE THAN LUCK: LUCKY STRIKE ADVERTISING DURING THE GEORGE WASHINGTON HILL YEARS:1926-1946 By Tyler S. Stump Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2015 Advisory Committee: Professor Saverio Giovacchini, Chair Professor Ferdinando Fasce Professor James B. Gilbert Professor David B. Sicilia iii © Copyright by Tyler S. Stump 2015 To Andra, for giving me a reason to finish. iiv Acknowledgements I could not have completed this thesis without the feedback, advice, and support that I received from many different places. I am so grateful that so many friends and colleagues were willing to share their time and talents with me. My fellow writers in “thesis group” were particularly helpful and helped me balance my thesis with the rest of my work. I am also especially thankful for Kate Keane and all of her help and friendship for the past three years. She helped me get interested in the history of cigarettes when I was an undergraduate student and has supported me every step of the way with teaching and graduate assistantships, book and research suggestions, and by serving as the perfect guide for navigating graduate school. She helped me become a better historian. The members of my defense committee: Nando Fasce, Jim Gilbert, and David Sicilia shared their expertise with me time and time again, and exposed me to many new ideas and resources that I may never have found on my own. Their intense review and comments made my thesis defense more engaging and useful than I could have ever hoped for. I am at a loss for words to describe how indebted I am to my advisor, Saverio Giovacchini. It did not take very long for him to become my best teacher and mentor. He always believed in me, and pushed me to make my work better. There were many times when I thought I would never be able to reach his expectations, but his confidence in me helped me do much more than I ever thought I was capable of. I often times went into his office feeling lost or stuck, but his insight and knowledge iii always gave me new ideas and a clear direction to go in. I could not have written this thesis without him. And finally, I would like to thank my parents, Rod and Jill. They were always interested in my work and were always willing to listen to whatever problems or issues I had. I was fortunate to have a Dad who doubled as an expert on marketing and advertising theory. He was able to fill in the gaps in my work that history could not fill. Even though Mom was not as familiar with my work beforehand, she was just as enthusiastic about it and was always around for a phone call when I needed it. I love you both. viiiv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... iiivi Table of Contents ....................................................................................................... viiiv Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: “He Makes America Sit Up and Buy:” Lucky Strike Print Advertising, 1926-1940 ................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2: The Gospel of Smoke: Intertextuality among Mediums of Lucky Strike Advertising, 1927-1940 .............................................................................................. 41 Chapter 3: Selling a Nation of the Air: Lucky Strike Radio Advertising and the Development of National Identity, 1928-1946 ........................................................... 77 Chapter 4: The Smoke of War: The Collapse of Unity within Lucky Strike Advertising, 1940-1946 ............................................................................................ 114 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 137 Appendix ................................................................................................................... 145 Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 147 v Introduction George Washington Hill was president of the American Tobacco Company (ATC) for twenty years. After dropping out of school to work as a laborer in a company warehouse in 1904, he rose through the ranks to become “the world’s greatest advertiser” by the time he died in 1946.1 Though his name was largely unknown to contemporaries (he was seldom interviewed or made public appearances), it was hard to miss the name Lucky Strike, the cigarette brand he devoted his life to selling. Lucky Strike dominated Hill’s life: he grew tobacco in his New York mansion, taped cartons to the windows of his car, and even named his two dachshunds “Lucky” and “Strike.” Visitors at his home and office who doubted his commitment to the brand were quickly corrected if they tried to light any other kind of cigarette in his presence; he had a habit of tossing any “offending” cigarettes out the window.2 George Hill could not be satisfied unless the rest of America was in love with Lucky Strike too. When Hill became president of the ATC in 1926 Americans were smoking around 30 billion cigarettes annually, about seventeen percent of which were Lucky Strike. Twenty years later this figure had jumped to 300 billion cigarettes, over a third of which were Lucky Strike.3 “The man largely responsible” one observer recalled, “was George Washington Hill.”4 As president, Hill spent over $250,000,000 1 "Advertising: Hill Legends," Newsweek, September 23, 1946. 76. 2 "George Washington Hill Dies," Life, September 23, 1946. 47. 3 Neil H. Borden, The Economic Effects of Advertising, 4th ed. (Chicago: Richard Irwin, Inc., 1947), 229. 1 advertising Lucky Strike, more than any other advertiser had ever spent on a single product before.5 Newspapers, magazines, radio, film, even exhibits at the 1939 World’s Fair were fair game for Hill, and he filled them with many colorful and memorable Lucky Strike ads each year. But Hill did not just sign the checks for the company ad budget; he also had a hand in creating many of the campaigns and slogans that found their way on to Lucky Strike ads. “Hill has shown a genius for advertising and sales psychology,” one critic wrote, “which has forced recognition for himself as the most dynamic figure in the tobacco industry- which, in retrospect, is epical.”6 Even when he didn’t write or edit an ad, he personally approved each one before it was released. Copywriters and other employees who could not conform to his style of advertising quickly found themselves out of a job. During Hill’s time as president, the ATC created and employed a complex advertising strategy to improve sales of Lucky Strike. It sought to capture the attention of American consumers and turn them into loyal customers. The methods the company used to promote Lucky Strikes demonstrate how they viewed the American public and what the best ways to motivate it were. Lucky Strike advertising went through major changes in this period, and reflects the larger changes that took place within the company and in American society at large. American Tobacco thought that it used effective advertising strategies, as demonstrated by the amount of 4 “George Washington Hill Dies.” 5 Ibid. 6George H. Allen, "He Makes America Sit Up and Buy: George Washington Hill." Forbes, January 1, 1933, 12. resources they put into advertising and the record-breaking sales figures they believed was the result. Lucky Strike advertising that was created before World War II was characterized by a desire to centralize and consolidate advertising as much as possible. Beginning with print media campaigns in the 1920s (the dominant medium of advertising at the time), Lucky Strike ads were all purposely unified under a single theme- modernity. Though the images, copy, and topics of ads regularly changed over the years, this underlying theme was always present. When radio came onto the advertising scene in the late 1920s, American Tobacco quickly recognized the unifying abilities the new mass medium had to offer. Millions of dollars were spent developing radio campaigns that tried to unify listeners