Talk:Joe Camel/Archives/2015
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Race issue?
I seem to recall that another issue with the "Joe Camel" character, besides the appeal to children, was that the camel as drawn appeared to have African-American features. In the USA that would be controversial, as it would suggest that African-American adults or children were being targeted for advertising of a potentially harmful product, and/or that African-Americans were being subtly made fun of by the ads.
Is there any support in reliable sources for this being a concern, or was it one of those "urban legends"?
Edited to add, I have also seen at least one source suggesting that the outfits and situations used for the portrayal of Joe Camel (he goes to bars, drives fancy cars, wears certain items of clothing etc.) seemed to be designed to attract African-American youth. From there it seems like a short step to making the camel's features resemble those of the target audience. If there is support for this controversy then it should be mentioned in the article. TheBlinkster (talk) 19:21, 9 May 2015 (UTC)
Bemoaning the old days
Yes, Old Joe is the camel on the cigarette packs since WWI era. Old Joe was a real living camel then. This seems to be forgotten but I knew it long before the more modern "smooth character" cancer pusher was dreamed up. The Old Joe image on the packs has always contained sexual imagery too so there is no surprise in the same in the cartoon Joe. I know it is unfashionable to admit the presence of sexual imagery in either but to be honest it is undeniable. Radio Sharon (talk) 19:09, 20 June 2009 (UTC)
Joe Camel originated in the 50's? Also, Old Joe is the mostly-natural camel shown on the cigarette packs since the brand was started around world war one.
24.93.213.107 05:08, 25 August 2007 (UTC)
Someone needs to add a reference to the Jokamel parody from TV Funhouse. --71.112.183.85 07:05, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
Until recently (I would say 2004), a "funny" kids-friendly plush camel had been featured on Camel print commercials throughout Germany. The ads were largely plain in-your-face humour (as, for example, this plush camel falling down a skyscraper, with the underline "Never throw your Camels out of the window"). As this plushie is a resemblance of "Joe Camel" in my eyes, I would say the campaign wasn't over as of 10 July 1997 (as the article says) - this would be more the date of the ban of Joe Camel on the US market. It was on at least until 2004 - only taking a look at the German market!
Take a look at http://www.guenther-net.de/camels/camelbilder1.html The ads for the German market were made by the advertising agency McCann-Erickson.