Silk Cut brand had ads in preparation for a ban on named tobacco advertising.
The advertisements showed scissors cutting through purple silk with the Silk
Cut logo on it. When the ban came into effect Silk Cut removed the logo from
the advertisements and only left the purple silk. A study showed that even
without the Silk Cut logo, 98% of consumers associated the advertisements with
Silk Cut. The final poster in the series was in 2002 when all tobacco
advertising in the UK was finally banned and showed an opera singer, wearing a
purple silk dress which had split at the seams - a reference to the saying
'It's not over until the fat lady sings'. Here's a cinema/TV ad with no
reference to the product at all - just scissors cutting through a roll of silk.
Brilliance in the service of vice! (Apologies for low quality.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZEOA4Zci3w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZEOA4Zci3w