Embassy x Two Officers From The Surgeons Guild

In 1949 P. Lorillard released an Embassy campaign encouraging smokers to “Inhale to your heart’s content!”.

They claimed that because the cigarette is longer, the smoke has to travel further, thus filtering out more toxins than standard length cigarettes. Sick, guess that makes sense if you don’t think too hard about it. And people didn’t, Embassy was the top-selling brand in Britain between 1964 to 1970.

The phrase “to your heart’s content” certainly conveyed a sense of happiness, fulfilment and healthfulness. Which is ironic considering smoking significantly increases heart disease.

‘Two officers from the Surgeons Guild’ (1699) by Juriaen Pool (II) is wild. Just two dudes posing, one with a heart in his hand. The original painting depicts the other man holding what I assume to be a tool for assessing anatomy. Either that or a straw for some reason.

The overall colour composition works rather well with the graphic style of the Embassy ads, featuring hues of cream, black, red, and white. I knew this painting, based on its subject matter and colours, would work damn near perfect with Embassy.

Another bonus is the dude on the right having the perfect hand position for a cigarette. I like to give the subjects in these paintings a cigarette in their hands when possible, rather than everyone mid puff with one fashioned on their lip.

I love taking a cigarette slogan and aligning it with a painting that gives it a more literal sense. So, of course, “Inhale to your heart’s content” is a saying I decided to take literally.

Rather than implying Embassy is the more fulfilling cigarette with some health-conscious undertones, the slogan becomes even more ridiculous. I decided to add smoke emitting from the arteries, further implicating the heart literally becomes full when you smoke Embassy.

There is something sinister about these two goofy surgeons holding a heart, whilst one fashions an Embassy himself.