{"id":7333,"date":"2021-11-26T12:41:50","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T12:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.lshtm.ac.uk\/library\/?p=7333"},"modified":"2021-11-26T14:10:35","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T14:10:35","slug":"the-pamphlet-collection-superman-takes-on-his-biggest-foe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lshtm.ac.uk\/library\/2021\/11\/26\/the-pamphlet-collection-superman-takes-on-his-biggest-foe\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pamphlet Collection: Superman takes on his biggest foe.<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Superman says \u201cNever say yes to a cigarette\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once again we are delving into the pamphlet collection, this time to bring you a glimpse of an early 80s public health campaign, staring Superman.  This can be found in the upstairs gallery at classmark GFW.AH.41.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Public Health Campaign: Superman takes on his biggest enemy, the fight against smoking<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In 1980, off the back of the success of the 1979 movie starring Christopher Reeve, Superman was set to fight his biggest foe, move over Brainiac, Zod and Lex Luthor, you are all small fry compared to the evil prowess of Nick O\u2019Teen.<\/p>\n

Now\u2026 okay\u2026 he didn\u2019t really have any powers, and his lung capacity wasn\u2019t really ever going to give Superman much of a run for his money.  But Nick O\u2019Teen is doing something so much worse, he\u2019s hanging around schools and down alley ways attempting to tempt kids with his cigarettes\u2026 and he\u2019s more than likely breaking a court order or two in the process, but that\u2019s just speculation.  But of course, Nick O\u2019Teen, like the many supervillains before him, is no match for our boy Clark Kent.  I\u2019m pretty sure those smoke sticks aren\u2019t laced with kryptonite anyway….<\/p>\n

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Like the Child Catcher from ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, Nick O’Teen attempted to lure children, but into the prison of nicotine addiction.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Superman teams up with The Health Education Council.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Health Education Council spent a large sum of money to license the rights to Superman from D.C. Comics, and then teamed up with advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi. The campaign consisted of tv commercials and advertisements which ran for a two year period.  Over 800,000 people sent off for the special Superman Stop Smoking packs which were advertised, including the comic featured in the Pamphlet collection, poster and other Superman related anti-smoking merchandise.  Which in many respects is a huge success in terms of raising awareness of the public health issue.  While there may have been no noticeable drop in the smoking rates of under 18s during the 1980s and 1990s, many were still very much aware of the campaign at the time and the response from schools was very positive.<\/p>\n

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Fashion Break: critic Chanel le Chic is less than impressed with Nick O’Teen’s get up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Superman and cigarettes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Superman franchise itself has a\u2026 shall we say\u2026 dicey history with smoking.  Some respondents to the HEC campaign noted that Superman Candy Cigarettes could be purchased in shops. And the 1981 movie Superman 2 (in cinemas while the campaign was still in action in the UK) featured a large amount of product placement from a certain cigarette brand after the parent company paid \u00a320,000 to producers for the right.<\/p>\n

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Spoiler Alert: Superman needs the help of all the kids in his life long campaign against Nick O’Teen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The reboot we all want<\/strong><\/p>\n

The use of cartoons in PSAs aimed towards children was not new and it makes sense to use a cartoon character they may have some affinity with to push a public health message.  I still have memories of the G.I. Joe PSAs at the end of episodes, the more ham fisted the more I recall them.  When all is said and done though, with the D.C. extended universe, the likelihood of another Superman movie is probably a given, so is it really too much to ask for Superman to face a reboot of his biggest foe on the silver screen? Get on it Hollywood.<\/p>\n

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