Belair Commercials Compilation #2 (film #161 on UCSF Tobacco Industry Video Collection). [Category: Commercial]

The catchphrase for this particular collection of Belair commercials would make anyone snicker today: “Breathe Easy, Smoke Clean.” They all feature a woman lying in a hammock on a beach (at times, the hammock is placed in a way that looks impossible to get in or out of, giving a bizarre trapped feeling to the scene) smoking Belairs and being approached by a hunky guy who bums a cigarette from her. Easy listening music plays in the background, and a male singer intones “Breathe easy, smoke clean with new Belair.” It all is designed to make smoking seem as refreshing as an ocean breeze––what a change from reality! Of course, this makes these commercials prime ephemera, ripe for msting. There’s a whole bunch of these––it looks like the folks at Belair couldn’t quite make up their minds about how they wanted these to go.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.