Smoking is Good For You;
An analysis of the North Korean propaganda poster conveying the message smoking is good for you..? As well as a look at smoking in North Korea. The habits of the locals and some anecdotes on the local North Korean cigarettes!
We take a look at this poster and other smoking-related imagery in North Korea.
Below poster is available for purchase.
Let’s Produce More Quality Cigarettes!
Propaganda Poster Artwork by Ri Chan U
Printed by the Pyongyang General Printing Factory
Published by WPK Publishing Factory (1982)
Price: 120 EUR including postage (A2 giclée print reproduction on art paper)
Propaganda Poster Introduction
A propaganda poster promoting the workers to produce the materials for a good smoke. Tobacco leaves are grown in the DPRK but cut tobacco is also imported.
This poster depicts a very happy tobacco farmer grinning with joy as she picks large leaves. The farm she works on has achieved a degree of mechanisation. A tractor in the background is there to impress this. It appears yet another bumper harvest is going to keep the workers busy.
There is a white sign in the field itself, expressing loyalty to the military.
Smoking in North Korea
Smoking is very common among men only. And so the consumption market is enormous. It requires both domestic production and import to satisfy demand.
North Korean Own-Brand Cigarettes
When we first started running tours to North Korea in 1993, we were told the story of the country’s ‘Rothmans’ brand.
North Koreans working abroad and then travelling back to the DPRK would purchase Rothmans from Beijing Airport duty-free shops as gifts. These were good quality cigarettes in a hard-cased packet which had the right appeal. A bit of sparkle and elegance, easily distinguishable from the local brands, and a decorative royal crest signifying some kind of higher quality.
Realising the opportunity, a local cigarette maker, Pyongyang Taeson created a cigarette that borrowed (!) many of the traits of the imported cigarette.
They used a bold green, gold edge and fancy embossing with golden text.
The cigarette had the official name ‘Mount Paektu’ (Paektusan) but on the streets, it was known as ‘the Rothmans cigarette’.
While the actual design may not be immediately similar, it was considered by North Korean cigarette aficionados to be the closest equivalent product produced in their home country.
North Korean Cigarettes & Imagery
Use of the name and imagery of Mount Paektu imagery is something well thought-through.
It represents the birthplace of the Korean nation and is considered the birthplace of the revolution in the north. This immediately marks the brand to the local market as being of the highest quality.
This iconography and the name of this sacred mountain could not be used if the product was of low quality.
The outline of the mountain is on the front cover and also embossed on the reverse. Additionally, on the front cover is a group of pine trees, traditionally representing a long life…
Who said smoking was bad for you?!
Reverse of the Paektusan cigarette with embossed Mt Paektu.
Outline of Mt Paektu used on the cigarette packaging.
