When a certain cadre of ad people are asked about their favourite advertising, Silk Cut is a name that often comes out of their (presumably, cigarette bedecked) mouths. The ads are hailed as an example of how greatness is soldered under constraints, the toxic chemicals inside the papers of creative minds, if you will.

The UK banned TV ads for tobacco products in the 1960s, but added further restrictions on what could be shown in tobacco ads in the 1980s. After which, inspired by the slashed canvases of Argentine artist Lucio Fontana1, Charles Saatchi, then still at the OG Saatchi & Saatchi, suggested a similar motif for Silk Cut, though the finished ads are credited to Paul Arden. 

What followed was a years-long campaign of edgy, sexy pictograms2. Silk Cut became the UK's biggest-selling cigarette brand. A cohort of now 50-something-year-olds work in advertising. Oh, and 120,000 people........

© campaign