THE 19TH HOLE | OPINION
situations you needed a degree in postmodernist art-history to understand.
This artistic nuance was a reaction to the
change in tobacco advertising laws in
the 1970s. It meant the tobacco industry
could no longer get away with a picture of
someone smoking, so they found a fresh
way to market their product.
Their
adverts
were
unique
and
groundbreaking and became far more
influential in converting non-smokers to
smokers than ever before. The adverts were
subversive, offering an intriguing glimpse
into something surrealist, incongruous
and let’s face it, arty. They were tobacco
advertising’s equivalent to a Wassily
Kandinsky.
Golf Advertising Can Be Influential
equally stylish mates in front of an uber-cool
Scottish castle whilst donning a green jacket
(A. GREEN. JACKET. The irony!).
Then there is that enigmatic dude waltzing
his way through a bar and restaurant, clearly
on the best date ever, which just tells us that
everything in life is better when you’re drinking
Heineken!
For me golf and smoking are indelibly linked.
One of my fondest memories is spending my
Sunday mornings practicing on the golf course
whilst my Dad and brother played in their
Winter League.
I’d have a pack of cigarettes in my bag and
would experiment my smoking style. And yes,
you guessed it, they were Benson & Hedges!
And, until a few years ago, the last vestige of
my smoking would also be played out on the
golf course.
And don’t even get me started on the vision
of satanic worship that is Casillero Del Diablo
from the wine cellars of Chile or the ‘If
Carlsberg Did Haircuts‘ advert. I love that dog!
Cigarette companies used to sponsor golf when
golf was in its heyday. Do you remember the
Benson & Hedges International? For me it was
St Mellion with bright red or electric green golf
trousers sported by the likes of Seve, Christy
O’Connor, Ken Brown and Gordon Brand Jr.
And then there was the cigarette advertising in
the 1980s and 90s.
Golf may well be missing a big trick with
advertising.
Back when golf magazines were still
popular (remember those days?) I used
to cut out the cigarette adverts from my
Golf Monthlys and pin them up. Especially
memorable were the Benson & Hedges
ones. There was something so very alluring
about the image of a cigarette pack in
Should the golfing authorities be putting their
content out there too?
Content that actually encourages our kids to
pick up some bats and head to the nearest golf
course?
Because I for one have never seen an R&A