Elation lies in the yearning for recurrence. Advertising for tobacco was already prohibited in France at the time. In order to circumvent this, Gitanes turned to Alain Weill, the director of the poster museum in Paris. He came up with the following scheme: a tribute to Marcel Jacno, the designer of the Gitanes logo. Paintings, photographs, and posters were featured. Through this, Gitanes was still able to advertise in Le Monde. Interestingly, my poster was the only one rejected, due to the depiction of lungs. The phrase “Happiness is the longing for repetition” (a line from Kundera) conveyed addiction.
The GITANES poster is scarce and now available at www.ftn-books.com together with other rare Beek posters.
