GQ May Cause Lung Cancer

Facing an outcry from public health groups, R.J. Reynolds announced in November that it would stop advertising cigarettes in magazines. This included GQ, where RJR used to advertise. Now that both RJR and Philip Morris have stopped running mag ads, you might think cigarettes have been completely extinguished from magazines.

You'd be wrong.

I'm not often shocked by a magazine cover, but I did a double take when I saw the January cover of GQ. Covers like this do not happen spontaneously, and you can be sure the editors thought carefully about that cigarette. The photo of Josh Brolin is by Mark Seliger, working under director of photography Dora Somosi and editor-in-chief Jim Nelson. 

The context – an actor modeling a nice outfit on the cover of a trend-setting magazine read by many young men – makes a big difference. Smoking would be less shocking in an environmental portrait, an archival image, or on the cover of, say, Cigar Aficionado.

This being a GQ cover, every piece of clothing is sourced and credited in the back of the magazine. I wondered if the cigarette was also a product placement.

"He's a smoker and it was his cigarette," GQ spokesperson Dan Sheffey told me. "I've met him and I know he smokes." Sheffey said the magazine has not heard any feedback from readers about the cover so far.

Brolin isn't the only smoker in GQ this month. Flip to page 32 and you'll find another photo of a man with a cigarette, running as part of a style column, shot by Scott Schuman.

Why is this toxic habit – now banned in public places in many major cities, including Paris effective yesterday – still in fashion? In some ways it's a tired question. Fifteen years ago, a New York Times article examined the persistence of smoking in fashion magazine spreads, and even noted the juxtaposition of a GQ editorial comment about quitting smoking with a cigarette ad in the same magazine.

I had a strong negative reaction to this GQ cover, but when I passed it around the office other PDN editors were less offended. What do you think?

Comments

[StMarc]

To be terribly, terribly blunt, *I* think you need to put on your big-boy underpants and deal.

I mean, if every other social problem that should engender outrage in a sentient being had been solved and we were down to, "Four or five idiots may be tempted to start smoking because this guy was holding a cigarette on the cover of GQ" on the priority list, I'd say bring on the outrage. But I don't think we're quite there yet.

M

[john mcd.]

josh brolin looks like he's trying to channel robert mitchum. or steve mcqueen. he also looks like a real dope. mitchum and mcqueen are just two of the numerous actors(e.g. bogart, wayne, brynner, etc., etc., etc.) who died of lung cancer. that he is pictured smoking on the cover of GQ was most certainly approved at the highest level of the magazine-they probably spent hours debating it. I wonder what they're trying to say?

[mark broogin]

i think it's cool. people also get naked and have sex - that's even supposed to be healthy i hear. why can't we see more of that. never in your country pal.

[aaronl]

I don't see the big deal, our society is wrapped up in being P.C. and where everything is now scrutanized under a microscope that when something like a cig ends up in a smokers hand during a photo shoot, people cry bloody murder.
If he was clubbing a babby seal, I would object, but if it is his cig and he obviously knew it might have a chance to end up in the shoot than lets just let this go and not worry about it.

[ken johnston]

At first glance I'm thinking that expectations probably shouldn't be too high for a magazine promoting these articles on the same cover as Brolin's smoldering butt:

Nice Pom Poms - The Uplifting Life of an NFL Cheerleader
Boxers or Briefs - The Immortal Question Finally Answered
Seed Money - I was a Professional Sperm Donor

It appears to be low-brow irony in the service of titillation to generate sales. I mean, the cigarette, the perfect Lee Marvin expression, the lapel and tie, the article titles all seem to be lifted from some mythic, sleazy men’s magazine circa 1966. And all this under the heading “A Clean Start”. Putting the cigarette under that heading is beautiful in an old-school damn-everything-but-get-their-attention Madison Avenue sort of way. Not to give those high-level approvers and debaters at GQ more demonic powers than they actually have. More likely the cover is a fortuitous combination of stylist, photographer and copy editor all working out some notion of “retro” in a Maxim-level, deliberately un-PC realm. The only newish thing about the cover is the color palette and typeface, and these are nothing to think too much about, methinks.

As far as Brolin's lungs go, well, they are at the service of (his) image, whatever the cost. GQ wants to anchor it in the real: "He's a smoker and it was his cigarette." It doesn’t matter if Brolin even knows the cigarette is a prop as he's a pastiche of male types not seen much since the Bicentennial. He'll get plenty of help in the area from his stylists, et al.

Anyway, commenting on this cover (in any form) fulfills its function, that is, it got our attention.

[Sarah]

I personally think it's a huge deal, and wonder how much imperial tobbacco perhaps paid for this product placement. As you said the cigarrette did not just happen. It's a photo shoot, likely somewhere where you can't even smoke indoors. The commenters above note it's not a big deal, perhaps also they are not aware of the 6,000 people that die in Canada each year, not from smoking themselves but from exposure to second-hand smoke. Though the cover picture may seem harmless, just simply portraying Josh as he is, these images are highly influential, especially to adolescent and young adult readers who are highly impressionable. And yes they do read this, I'd say college guys probably make up a large portion of their readership. My first thought as I glanced at this magazine was what was the motive? Is someone other than a tobacco company, smoker or not, really trying to send a postive message about smoking? Would Josh, a role model to many like it or not, encourage other's to take up smoking?With the growing cocern for the tobacco's burden on our health care system (30% of all Cancer deaths) should these types of images should be banned.