A new ad hanging in the corner store:
Camel Menthols
Pleasure to Burn
The slogan in particular is what perplexes me, as the phrase "It was a pleasure to burn" is the opening to Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451, which is about a dystopic society where reading is outlawed. In particular, the opening refers to the mindless animal joy found in destruction, specifically the destruction of books and implements of the higher mind. It marks the descent into the bestial, and the savage glee therein.
I am at odds, then, to explain why a cigarette company would choose this phrase as its slogan.
Are they trying to imply that smoking Camel Menthols brings about animal joy? The joy of destruction, of destruction of self, of lungs, of lifespan? Should one be taking glee in this act? Are they implying that cigarettes lead to mindlessness? That only the unthinking and unaware smoke? The firemen of Bradbury's novel are villains, condemned by the novel's end. Are cigarette smokers to see themselves allied with them?
Or does the symbolic destruction of a cigarette through consumption provide the real pleasure? What psychological assuagance is gained through this act of burning something you have purchased? Is it the pleasure of consumerism, of spending money on such a fleeting thing that provides a moment of narcotic release, gone before the money spent is even deposited in the bank? Is it the cycle of consumption and destruction that provides the implied bliss?
Or is there another meaning I'm missing? Does the line not refer to 451 at all, but rather implies an excess of pleasure? As in the phrase "money to burn," does "pleasure to burn" imply you have too much pleasure, an excess of pleasure that allows you to spend it freely on Camel Menthols? Does one gain more pleasure by recognizing this overflow of existing pleasure, thus gaining pleasure while losing it?
Please, chime in with thoughts, as I am very confused. And note I am not making an overt political statement in favor of or opposed to smoking. I leave that type of polemic to Brownsox. I just seek enlightenment.
4 comments:
on a related note, I smoke now
Theatre made me
So are there bets being laid as to what will do you in first? As of now, we've got chronic pet allergies, messed up respiratory system, alcoholism, scurvy, and now smoking. Can we get someone to figure out odds and set up a pool?
Or are you going for Mr. Burns Syndrome, where everything cancels everything else out?
Oh, and how's the show going?
If you're going on the Burns Syndrome - be sure to get pancreatic cancer and hysterical pregnancy. You don't want to miss those.
Seriously Quantum, this doesn't sound like a wise addition to the lifestyle.
In other news - I'd like opinions on whether or not I should join the NU-alum blog ring. I'm feeling the urge to blog. If I have to read ya'lls - you should have to hear about my existence as well.
do it sergio
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