Kilbourne lecture attacks ad industry

Approximately a third of all three-year-olds can link Joe Camel with cigarettes. In fact, this black-leather clad dromedary has become as popular as Mickey Mouse. Jean Kilbourne, media critic, lecturer, writer and single mother, used this information to blast cigarette advertisers last night in Meyerson Hall, to the welcoming applause of an overwhelmingly large audience. Kilbourne's speech received extensive ovations and many students stayed for a question-and-answer session when the presentation concluded. Internationally recognized for her research on tobacco and alcohol advertising and images of women in advertising, Kilbourne has advised two U.S. surgeon generals and has testified before Congress twice on her field of expertise. She was recently featured in The New York Times Magazine as the second most popular speaker on college campuses, trailing only poet Maya Angelou. Kilbourne has twice received the Lecturer of the Year award from the National Association of Campus Activities. Kilbourne, an ex-smoker, expressed her anger toward the tobacco industry by posing rhetorical questions on cigarette advertising. "How do members of the tobacco industry feel about their own children?" she asked. "Do they want their own kids to start smoking too?" The industry is undeniably a lucrative one, Kilbourne said, adding that its leaders pretend their product is safe. She said an 11-year-old child surrounded by billions of dollars in advertising can easily be "sucked into" buying cigarettes. She explained that not only is Marlboro the leading cigarette brand in the world, but it is also the leading packaged product today. Kilbourne first became involved in her field when she started collecting advertisements in the late 1960s. She was a teacher and an activist, and her interest in "the power of image and how it affects people" still remains. She called her perspective original, saying it strikes people in new ways. "I'm an activist for women's rights and social justice," Kilbourne added. "Drugs and eating disorders sap people's energy and make it more difficult to bring about people's change." Her career path has given plenty of fodder for her speeches. As a former model who hated the business, Kilbourne emphasized that advertising companies surround the public with an unrealistic image of female beauty. "Women must spend enormous amounts of time and money striving to attain this ideal," she said. Further, Kilbourne claimed, the advertising industry creates a climate of widespread violence toward women, where they are viewed as "things" rather than human beings. According to Kilbourne, women are faced with objectification from which men do not suffer. To back up this point, she showed a slide of an advertisement that stated: "I'd probably never be married if I hadn't lost 49 pounds." Kilbourne said she hopes to make college students "more conscious of the influence of the media and to understand that addictions are actually political." "We have a right to be free from manipulation and censorship," she said. Entitled "Deadly Persuasions: Advertising and Addiction," Kilbourne's speech was coordinated by the Office of Health Education and sponsored by Connaissance, the Drug and Alcohol Resource Team and Guidance for Understanding Image, Dieting and Eating.

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