Flatiron News and Salem Cigarettes--Not What You Expect?


Flatiron News and Salem Cigarettes--Not What You Expect?

Above on the left is Page 16 of the Holiday, 1997 issue of Flatiron News, a slick-paper freebie distributed in the Flatiron/Silicon Alley district of New York City. The Bowling article is seemingly a part of the Flatiron News' regular "Habitat" feature, and touts the local Bowlmor Lanes. (Note the "unexpected" way the character in the lower left has his cigarette in his mouth--filter-end out.)
On the facing page is Part 1 of a 4-part Salem ad.
You see the little green hand, pointing down? That's actually a cutout, revealing a portion of the next page.

If you turn the page, you see the "unexpected"--a candle.

However, if you then look back at the cutout page, you see

A neatly framed cameo of the woman in the Bowlmor graphic from Page 16.

This is obviously an important page--it has the tag line "It's Not What You Expect," and is the only page that depicts the Salem pack.

What is the relationship between the Salem ad, Flatiron News, the Bowlmor Lanes and the woman in the graphic--who perhaps unwittingly has become part of a cigarette ad?

A few questions (which have been emailed to Flatiron News):

  • 1. Is RJR merely an advertiser, or are there deeper links between the company and Flatiron News? Is Flatiron News an RJR/urban version of Philip Morris' Unlimited Magazine?
  • 2. Is this ad's placement a purposeful integration of editorial and advertising? Was the Bowlmor montage knowingly posed, shot or constructed to complement the Salem ad?
  • 3. If so, are Bowlmor and the model a contracted part of the ad?
  • 4. If the placement of the ad is sheer happenstance:
    • a. Was anyone aware of the fortuitious final positioning of the ad?
    • b. Has there been any feedback at all from RJ Reynolds, Bowlmor, the models, Flatiron readers or staff about the placement of the ad?


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  • ©1997 Gene Borio, Tobacco BBS (212-982-4645). WebPage: http://www.tobacco.org).Original Tobacco BBS material may be reprinted in any non-commercial venue if accompanied by this credit

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