Promoting Player's: Smoking, Advertising and Consumer Culture 1960-1980
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: History
Abstract
Context of the research:
In terms of the proposed partnership between the University of Nottingham and Nottingham City Museums and Galleries, this PhD project builds on the Knowledge Transfer Partnership launched in September 2009 to develop the Player's Advertising Archive, a resource donated to the Museums and Galleries in the 1980s but never before accessible for research.
In terms of the research context, the PhD will address key issues in the history of smoking and tobacco advertising during the 1960s and 1970s using the hitherto untapped resources of the Player's Advertising Archive as well as printed sources and other unpublished material. The 1960s and 1970s were an era when the medical establishment's increasingly forceful messages on the damaging effects of smoking elicited limited, though gradually increasing intervention by successive UK governments to restrict tobacco advertising, coupled with voluntary agreements on the images used in advertising (1962, 1975) and the printing of health warnings on cigarette packets (1971). Tobacco companies adapted to a public climate that increasingly linked smoking with health issues by channelling growing expenditure into advertising campaigns and diversifying their promotional strategies. Cigarette marketing innovations of the 1960s included a wide range of new, mostly filtered brands, the launch of new coupon schemes, and a vigorous promotion of brands through sports sponsorship and the patronage of arts and entertainment. Player's took a major part in these developments, both in lobbying against proposals to limit cigarette advertising and promotion, and by setting the pace in sports and entertainment sponsorship.
Aims and Objectives:
The aims and objectives of the collaborative PhD project are:
- to use the rich resources of the Advertising Archive in order to explore two key decades in the history of Player's and shed light on how cigarette promotion in the key decades of the 1960s and 1970s sought in practice to embed a 'culture of smoking' locally and nationally and in different spheres of everyday life, consumer culture, leisure and entertainment;
- to enhance the Advertising Archive by continuing the cataloguing work already begun, with a particular focus on promotional materials and artwork relating to sports, arts and entertainment;
- to create a new resource for Nottingham City Museums and Galleries in the form of an oral history archive on the history of Player's, consisting of c. 30 interviews with former employees
- to provide input into an accessible publication with Nottinghamshire Archives and an exhibition at the University's Weston Gallery.
Potential applications and benefits:
The PhD will aim to offer a new understanding of the persistence of a 'culture of smoking' even during a period when the risks of smoking were becoming established in the public mind. Fresh knowledge can also be expected on the leisure and consumer culture of the 1960s and 1970s, notably the history of sports and leisure sponsorship.
In addition to intellectual benefits, it is anticipated that the collaborative PhD will be of significant benefit to Nottingham City Museums and Galleries by providing a continuing input into the development and cataloguing of the John Player Advertising Archive, which is one of its most significant collections of images and artefacts.
Creating an oral history archive will ensure a continuing relationship between Nottingham City Museums and Galleries and the community of former Player's employees. In so doing it will help cultivate an important dimension of the city's heritage and provide a context in which the experiences of a broad cross-section of Nottingham's residents can be recorded, shared and appreciated.
Finally, the project will raise the profile of Nottingham City Museums and Galleries both within the heritag
In terms of the proposed partnership between the University of Nottingham and Nottingham City Museums and Galleries, this PhD project builds on the Knowledge Transfer Partnership launched in September 2009 to develop the Player's Advertising Archive, a resource donated to the Museums and Galleries in the 1980s but never before accessible for research.
In terms of the research context, the PhD will address key issues in the history of smoking and tobacco advertising during the 1960s and 1970s using the hitherto untapped resources of the Player's Advertising Archive as well as printed sources and other unpublished material. The 1960s and 1970s were an era when the medical establishment's increasingly forceful messages on the damaging effects of smoking elicited limited, though gradually increasing intervention by successive UK governments to restrict tobacco advertising, coupled with voluntary agreements on the images used in advertising (1962, 1975) and the printing of health warnings on cigarette packets (1971). Tobacco companies adapted to a public climate that increasingly linked smoking with health issues by channelling growing expenditure into advertising campaigns and diversifying their promotional strategies. Cigarette marketing innovations of the 1960s included a wide range of new, mostly filtered brands, the launch of new coupon schemes, and a vigorous promotion of brands through sports sponsorship and the patronage of arts and entertainment. Player's took a major part in these developments, both in lobbying against proposals to limit cigarette advertising and promotion, and by setting the pace in sports and entertainment sponsorship.
Aims and Objectives:
The aims and objectives of the collaborative PhD project are:
- to use the rich resources of the Advertising Archive in order to explore two key decades in the history of Player's and shed light on how cigarette promotion in the key decades of the 1960s and 1970s sought in practice to embed a 'culture of smoking' locally and nationally and in different spheres of everyday life, consumer culture, leisure and entertainment;
- to enhance the Advertising Archive by continuing the cataloguing work already begun, with a particular focus on promotional materials and artwork relating to sports, arts and entertainment;
- to create a new resource for Nottingham City Museums and Galleries in the form of an oral history archive on the history of Player's, consisting of c. 30 interviews with former employees
- to provide input into an accessible publication with Nottinghamshire Archives and an exhibition at the University's Weston Gallery.
Potential applications and benefits:
The PhD will aim to offer a new understanding of the persistence of a 'culture of smoking' even during a period when the risks of smoking were becoming established in the public mind. Fresh knowledge can also be expected on the leisure and consumer culture of the 1960s and 1970s, notably the history of sports and leisure sponsorship.
In addition to intellectual benefits, it is anticipated that the collaborative PhD will be of significant benefit to Nottingham City Museums and Galleries by providing a continuing input into the development and cataloguing of the John Player Advertising Archive, which is one of its most significant collections of images and artefacts.
Creating an oral history archive will ensure a continuing relationship between Nottingham City Museums and Galleries and the community of former Player's employees. In so doing it will help cultivate an important dimension of the city's heritage and provide a context in which the experiences of a broad cross-section of Nottingham's residents can be recorded, shared and appreciated.
Finally, the project will raise the profile of Nottingham City Museums and Galleries both within the heritag
Planned Impact
The CDA PhD project will seek to extend the impact already developing from the Knowledge Transfer Partnership between the University of Nottingham and Nottingham City Museums and Galleries to develop the John Player's Advertising Archive.
Key beneficiary: Nottingham City Museums and Galleries (NCMG)
The work done within the KTP between the University of Nottingham and NCMG has shown that developing the John Player's Advertising Archive is of outstanding benefit to the Museums and Galleries Service. No other collection of this kind in the country has been developed on this scale for use in research, in exhibitions and in community-based projects. As such, the project is a showpiece for the Museum of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard and its staff. Since its launch in September 2009 it has:
- attracted significant local media coverage (BBC East Midlands Today, Central TV, BBC Radio Nottingham, November 2009). This in turn has brought numerous expressions of interest from the public, which the project followed up with invitations to 'sneak previews' and focus group sessions.
- served as a basis for NCMG to secure additional external funding for linked activities, including a MuBu grant (June 2010) for making a film of interviews with former Player's employees, and a Renaissance East Midlands-funded 6-month internship from October 2010 for cataloguing packaging items and developing Loans Boxes for use in University of Nottingham teaching.
- featured in Museums Journal (July 2010)
- won an East Midlands Regional Heritage Award in September 2010 in the 'Collections Development and Care' category.
In addition, thanks to the KTP the University has recruited student volunteers and provided funding for a 4-month internship to assist with cataloguing.
The CDA PhD project will seek to maintain and build on these impacts by:
- continuing the institutional link with the University when the KTP project ends;
- cataloguing an additional section of the collection (on sports/arts/entertainment promotions);
- maintaining the Flickr site;
- creating a new oral history collection of interviews with former Player's employees.
- providing input into an accessible publication with Nottinghamshire Archives, texts for an exhibition at the University of Nottingham Weston Gallery in 2013, and delivering a public talk.
Former employees of John Player's
Thousands of local residents in Nottingham are former employees of John Player's. The lively interest in the Advertising Archive project was evident in 'sneak preview' sessions and focus group sessions: these showed how much untapped knowledge exists among Player's employees about the company and its place in the local community. The proposed oral history collection will capture these memories as a resource for the future. For the respondents, being interviewed will stimulate memories and activate connections with former colleagues. Experience of oral history projects in other contexts suggests that this process can significantly enhance the lives of those involved: exploring memories is beneficial to those researched as well as to the researcher.
Other audiences and users
The student recruited to the CDA PhD studentship will be an 'ambassador' for the Advertising Archive project and will seek to engage audiences interested in local history through the activities described above. In addition, he/she will liaise with other museums and institutions with interests in the Player's collection, e.g. History of Advertising Trust and the Museum of Brands and Packaging, in order to share good practice with regard to cataloguing and digitizing images and to the history and display of particular images and artefacts. Some of these institutions are already engaged in dialogue with NCMG and will be represented at the May 2011 workshop at the University on 'Smok
Key beneficiary: Nottingham City Museums and Galleries (NCMG)
The work done within the KTP between the University of Nottingham and NCMG has shown that developing the John Player's Advertising Archive is of outstanding benefit to the Museums and Galleries Service. No other collection of this kind in the country has been developed on this scale for use in research, in exhibitions and in community-based projects. As such, the project is a showpiece for the Museum of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard and its staff. Since its launch in September 2009 it has:
- attracted significant local media coverage (BBC East Midlands Today, Central TV, BBC Radio Nottingham, November 2009). This in turn has brought numerous expressions of interest from the public, which the project followed up with invitations to 'sneak previews' and focus group sessions.
- served as a basis for NCMG to secure additional external funding for linked activities, including a MuBu grant (June 2010) for making a film of interviews with former Player's employees, and a Renaissance East Midlands-funded 6-month internship from October 2010 for cataloguing packaging items and developing Loans Boxes for use in University of Nottingham teaching.
- featured in Museums Journal (July 2010)
- won an East Midlands Regional Heritage Award in September 2010 in the 'Collections Development and Care' category.
In addition, thanks to the KTP the University has recruited student volunteers and provided funding for a 4-month internship to assist with cataloguing.
The CDA PhD project will seek to maintain and build on these impacts by:
- continuing the institutional link with the University when the KTP project ends;
- cataloguing an additional section of the collection (on sports/arts/entertainment promotions);
- maintaining the Flickr site;
- creating a new oral history collection of interviews with former Player's employees.
- providing input into an accessible publication with Nottinghamshire Archives, texts for an exhibition at the University of Nottingham Weston Gallery in 2013, and delivering a public talk.
Former employees of John Player's
Thousands of local residents in Nottingham are former employees of John Player's. The lively interest in the Advertising Archive project was evident in 'sneak preview' sessions and focus group sessions: these showed how much untapped knowledge exists among Player's employees about the company and its place in the local community. The proposed oral history collection will capture these memories as a resource for the future. For the respondents, being interviewed will stimulate memories and activate connections with former colleagues. Experience of oral history projects in other contexts suggests that this process can significantly enhance the lives of those involved: exploring memories is beneficial to those researched as well as to the researcher.
Other audiences and users
The student recruited to the CDA PhD studentship will be an 'ambassador' for the Advertising Archive project and will seek to engage audiences interested in local history through the activities described above. In addition, he/she will liaise with other museums and institutions with interests in the Player's collection, e.g. History of Advertising Trust and the Museum of Brands and Packaging, in order to share good practice with regard to cataloguing and digitizing images and to the history and display of particular images and artefacts. Some of these institutions are already engaged in dialogue with NCMG and will be represented at the May 2011 workshop at the University on 'Smok
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Elizabeth Harvey (Principal Investigator) |