The First Time Glamour Models Were Used To Advertise

For over a century, one of the most common jobs in glamour photography has been in advertising, with models showing off pretty much any type of product you could care to mention.

The reason for this is the view that sex sells, and whilst studies looking into this are rather less conclusive, many people can remember an advert featuring a glamour model showing off a product and catching many an onlooker’s eye.

However, this is not a new concept at all. In fact, over 150 years ago, a tobacco company managed to cement the connection before some companies were even choosing to advertise at all.

The company in question was Pearl Tobacco in 1871, which utilised a half-naked woman rising from choppy waters appearing like a siren on the box.

Whilst also leaning into classical and Renaissance imagery, people did take notice of the woman on the cover, and even if the intention was not necessarily to use nudity to catch the eye, its effectiveness was such that other companies started to do the same.

The most successful example in the late 19th century was W. Duke and Sons, which had an extensive number of advertising campaigns including provocative glamorous images of stars in that particular era from 1880 until the end of the century.

Whilst Duke was not the first to turn their protective cards into trading cards, they were the first to gain a seeming boost by adding pictures of famous, beautiful people, as that provided an incentive for smokers to choose their brand over others.

This phenomenon quickly spread and for as long as tobacco marketing would be allowed, glamorous imagery would be a core component, as it could and does catch someone’s attention and could potentially convince them to buy one brand over another.

Duke became the market leader for cigarettes in the United States within five years of starting their campaign and the concept would spread from there into nearly every industry.