Philip Morris x Murder In The House

Basically the Kingpin of cigarette companies, Philip Morris owns Marlboro, Virginia Slims, Benson & Hedges, Merit, Parliament, Alpine, Basic, Cambridge, Bucks, Dave's, Chesterfield, Collector's Choice, Commander, Lark, L&M and Players.

Oh, and they also run their own cigarette brand for a minute.  

During the 1940’s, Philip Morris ran a campaign focused on the ridiculous claim that smokers can avoid “cigarette hangovers” when smoking PM over other brands.

Now, I don’t think people can actually get hungover from smoking, but PM cultivated this b*llshit side effect so they can sell a solution.

This worked rather well, as it also implies their cigarettes are healthier than most, which was an attractive selling point around the time.

They used this selling point almost like a huge discovery/announcement, their ad spreads often had “NO CIGARETTE HANGOVER” as the main title, resembling a newspaper with its page structure and bait title (these probably were used in newspapers idk).

These ads were often black and white, featuring that lil bellhop mascot they used for decades for some reason.

Murder in the House by Jakub Schikaneder (1890) shows concerned bystanders looking at a bloodied young woman lying dead in the street. The home appears to have been broken into. Violently.

The 10 onlookers all have varied expressions, from relaxed and curious to worried and lost in thought. One man seems to be mid explanation of the incident, perhaps speculating how she was murdered.

You know they’ve been talking for several minutes, none of them are shocked about the body. The moment of discovery has passed.

I wanted to depict someone being severely hungover from smoking cigarettes, so a corpse did the trick. While the colours don’t align with the campaign referenced, they do resemble later campaigns and their brand colours. Standard procedure, everyone gets a dart, even the kids.

Positioned in the centre is the PH packet, practically offered to the hungover lady as a remedy.