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Home / Archives for children

children

Curious Facts – img12619

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Growing Up In Smoke – img12488

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Many anti-smoking advertisements use children as a motivation for adults to quit smoking. The two most common themes in this category are 1) your children are suffering from your secondhand smoke, and 2) that you are being a poor role model for your children.

These ads remind smokers that their “choice” to smoke not only negatively affects themselves as individuals, but also harms innocent bystanders and those whom the smokers love most.

Children are particularly vulnerable because they have no say in the smoking habits of the adults in close proximity to them. Children exposed to secondhand smoke wheeze and cough more often, get sick more often, and experience more frequent and more intense life-threatening asthma attacks than children not exposed to secondhand smoke. (1)

Other ads in this category concentrate on the example smokers set for their children. Multiple studies have shown that children whose parents smoke are much more likely to start smoking themselves than are their peers. These ads thus force smokers to think about the consequences of smoking not just for themselves, but for others as well.

While the primary goal of these ads is to increase the number of adult quitters, the ads may also have cascading effects on adolescents. Unfortunately, literature on the effectiveness of these children-themed ads on adult quitting rates is lacking, and there has not been extensive research on whether the ads persuade adults to talk to their children about smoking.

However, there is research on how parental smoking and parental behaviors affect smoking behaviors in children. Smoking socialization, which can include both directly transmitted knowledge of smoking through parental conversations with children and indirectly transmitted knowledge through parental smoking habits, has been shown to influence children’s future smoking habits. Exposure to second-hand smoke and a lack of anti-smoking expectations and smoking-specific rules are parenting behaviors associated with current smoking in adolescents and the likelihood of children to pick up smoking later in life.

Interestingly, one study noted that while parenting behaviors had a significant impact on smoking patterns in adolescents, actual parental smoking did not (2). The results of this study suggest that perhaps ads that focus on the health of children should be supplemented with parenting advice for adult smokers. A second study also supports the claim that “higher quality” parenting, which in this case was defined as “positive in affect and tone, responsive, directive, and empathetic,” was associated with a lower likelihood of smoking initiation in adolescents, further indicating the importance of smoking socialization between parent and child (3).

Though the primary purpose of these children-themed ads may not be to prevent smoking in adolescents, the ads may raise awareness in families about the influence parents can have on their children’s smoking behaviors. If these ads are supplemented with support and advice on parenting and how to talk to children about smoking, they may have the potential to reduce smoking not just in adults, but also in adolescents as well.

REFERENCES:

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General: Secondhand Smoke: What It Means To You. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006 [accessed 2011 Mar 11].

2. Waa A, Edwards R, Newcombe R, Zhang J, Weerasekera D, Peace J, McDuff I. Parental behaviors, but not parental smoking, influence current smoking and smoking susceptibility among 15 and 15 year-old children. Aust NZ J Public Health 2011; 35: 530-536.

3. Richmond MJ, Mermelstein RJ, Wakschlag LS. Direction Observations of Parenting and Real-Time Negative Affect Among Adolescent Smokers and Nonsmokers. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology 2012; 0:1-12.

 

Racist Ads – img5043

May 25, 2021 by sutobacco

As World War II came to a close, tobacco companies needed to expand to “new” markets in order to maintain prosperity. At this point, they began issuing mass marketing efforts targeting African Americans as the demographic became urban-centric and earned more wages. Before this mass market expansion in the 1940s and 50s, however, tobacco companies sang a very different tune. Indeed, in the first decades of the twentieth century, the only ads featuring African Americans were racist advertisements that used black caricatures to advertise to white consumers.

An historian of African American history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Professor Robert E. Weems, Jr., explains that “when African Americans were perceived to be a group with very limited spending power, many companies employed the derogatory term ‘nigger’ in naming products” (1). Indeed, our collection includes ads for “Nigger Hair Tobacco,” among other racist advertisements.

When advertisers began to realize that the African American market was untapped and potentially lucrative, countless articles were printed offering businessmen and admen advice on how to attract African American consumers. One article from 1943, written by the “Negro market expert,” David J. Sullivan, actually alerted advertisers of racist techniques which should be avoided in order to prevent pushing away African American consumers. The essay, entitled “Don’t Do This—If You Want to Sell Your Products to Negroes!,” urged advertisements to avoid racist caricatures, such as “buxom, broad-faced, grinning mammies and Aunt Jemimas” or “the ‘Uncle Mose’ type … characterized by kinky hair and as a stooped, tall, lean and grayed sharecropper, always in rags.” (2)

1. Weems, Jr., Robert E. “African American Consumers since World War II.” Kusmer, Kenneth L. and Koe W. Trotter, eds. “African American Urban History Since World War II.” Chicago:The Univeristy of Chicago Press. 2009:359-375.

2. Sullivan, David J. “The American Negro—An ‘Export’ Market at Home!” Printer’s Ink; 208:3. 21 July 1944:90.

Bad Influence – img12723

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Many anti-smoking advertisements use children as a motivation for adults to quit smoking. The two most common themes in this category are 1) your children are suffering from your secondhand smoke, and 2) that you are being a poor role model for your children.

These ads remind smokers that their “choice” to smoke not only negatively affects themselves as individuals, but also harms innocent bystanders and those whom the smokers love most.

Children are particularly vulnerable because they have no say in the smoking habits of the adults in close proximity to them. Children exposed to secondhand smoke wheeze and cough more often, get sick more often, and experience more frequent and more intense life-threatening asthma attacks than children not exposed to secondhand smoke. (1)

Other ads in this category concentrate on the example smokers set for their children. Multiple studies have shown that children whose parents smoke are much more likely to start smoking themselves than are their peers. These ads thus force smokers to think about the consequences of smoking not just for themselves, but for others as well.

While the primary goal of these ads is to increase the number of adult quitters, the ads may also have cascading effects on adolescents. Unfortunately, literature on the effectiveness of these children-themed ads on adult quitting rates is lacking, and there has not been extensive research on whether the ads persuade adults to talk to their children about smoking.

However, there is research on how parental smoking and parental behaviors affect smoking behaviors in children. Smoking socialization, which can include both directly transmitted knowledge of smoking through parental conversations with children and indirectly transmitted knowledge through parental smoking habits, has been shown to influence children’s future smoking habits. Exposure to second-hand smoke and a lack of anti-smoking expectations and smoking-specific rules are parenting behaviors associated with current smoking in adolescents and the likelihood of children to pick up smoking later in life.

Interestingly, one study noted that while parenting behaviors had a significant impact on smoking patterns in adolescents, actual parental smoking did not (2). The results of this study suggest that perhaps ads that focus on the health of children should be supplemented with parenting advice for adult smokers. A second study also supports the claim that “higher quality” parenting, which in this case was defined as “positive in affect and tone, responsive, directive, and empathetic,” was associated with a lower likelihood of smoking initiation in adolescents, further indicating the importance of smoking socialization between parent and child (3).

Though the primary purpose of these children-themed ads may not be to prevent smoking in adolescents, the ads may raise awareness in families about the influence parents can have on their children’s smoking behaviors. If these ads are supplemented with support and advice on parenting and how to talk to children about smoking, they may have the potential to reduce smoking not just in adults, but also in adolescents as well.

REFERENCES:

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General: Secondhand Smoke: What It Means To You. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006 [accessed 2011 Mar 11].

2. Waa A, Edwards R, Newcombe R, Zhang J, Weerasekera D, Peace J, McDuff I. Parental behaviors, but not parental smoking, influence current smoking and smoking susceptibility among 15 and 15 year-old children. Aust NZ J Public Health 2011; 35: 530-536.

3. Richmond MJ, Mermelstein RJ, Wakschlag LS. Direction Observations of Parenting and Real-Time Negative Affect Among Adolescent Smokers and Nonsmokers. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology 2012; 0:1-12.

 

Deaths – img12626

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Industry Lies – img12278

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Many antismoking ads seek to counter the powerful tobacco industry by exposing the industry’s manipulative tactics and increasing counter-industry attitudes.

In 2006, together the five largest cigarette manufacturers spent $12.49 billion (more than $35 million a day) advertising their products, making tobacco products one of the most marketed products in the United States (1). The tobacco industry, with generations of trial, error, and experience behind it, has become increasingly persuasive. Smoking cigarettes kills about 443,000 people per year, making it the leading cause of preventable deaths in the US. Smoking kills more than HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined. With these statistics, the tobacco industry needs to be relentless in its marketing efforts in order to replace the customers who die from smoking (2).

The most common approach taken by anti-industry ads is to reveal that the tobacco industry is manipulating its consumers. Many people who smoke know tobacco is bad for their health, yet they make a conscious “choice” to continue the habit. It is a “freedom” they are unwilling to relinquish, a “right” they won’t have stolen from them. However, many of these ads expose that this “choice” is not completely their own, and that in fact the tobacco industry has a significant influence on smokers through manipulative tactics.

The youth-targeted Truth Campaign, sponsored by the American Legacy Foundation, is one of the strongest advocators of this message. The campaign claims to be neither anti-smoking nor pro-smoking, stating that its mission is to “pull back the curtain” on the tobacco industry (thetruth.com).

Other counter-industry ads attempt to convince smokers that the relationship between the industry and its tobacco supporters may be more parasitic than mutualistic, with the tobacco industry reaping most of the profit and benefits while its consumers are left sick and dying. These anti-industry ads often quote internal tobacco industry documents and interviews to support their message. They also utilize statistics to put into perspective the amount of profit the tobacco industry is making from its consumers versus how many people are dying from tobacco products.

Various studies have examined the effectiveness of this counter-industry approach on adolescents and teens, the ads’ primary targets audience. This population is potentially more receptive to these messages because many of them begin smoking as a form of rebellion, self-discovery, and individuality (3); thus, it is considered effective to reveal to teens that smoking is actually not a means to be independent, since smokers are “controlled” by the industry.

The Truth campaign has been studied more extensively than any other statewide counter-industry campaigns, and some studies have indicated that awareness of this campaign has lowered smoking intentions in adolescents and has increased the desire to quit in young adults (3, 4, 5). These ads have also been shown to be effective beyond the age groups they target. One study suggested that the Truth campaign, which is intended primarily for 12-17-year-olds, may continue to prevent smoking in older age groups, making these ads extremely cost-effective (6).

However, another study showed that anti-industry ads did not significantly lower smoking intention, nor did they strengthen anti-industry attitudes;.the study does not necessarily suggest that counter-industry ads are completely ineffective, but instead claims that these ads can be used in conjunction with disease-and-suffering ads, which the study claims are more effective. (7). The anti-industry and manipulation themed ads may be most effective when working alongside the disease-and-suffering ads.

If presented to the right population, anti-industry ad campaigns can have lasting effects from adolescence throughout young adulthood (7, 8).

REFERENCES:

1. Federal Trade Commission. Cigarette Report for 2006. Issued August 2009.
http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/about-smoking/facts-figures/tobacco-industry-marketing.html

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2008; 57(45): 1226-8. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/tobacco_related_mortality/.

3. Richardson AK, Green M, Xiao H, Sokol N, Vallone D. Evidence for truth: The Young Adult Response to a Youth-Focused Anti-Smoking Media Campaign. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2010; 39(6): 500-506.

4. Bauer UE, Johnson TM, Hopkins RS, Brooks RG. Changes in youth cigarette use and intentions following implementation of a tobacco control program: findings from the Florida Youth Tobacco Survey, 1998-2000. JAMA 2000; 286(6): 2=723-8.

5. Farrelly MC, Healton CG, Davis KC, Messeri P, Hersey JC, Haviland ML. Getting to the Truth: Evaluating National Tobacco Countermarketing Campaigns. Am J Public Health 2002; 92(6): 901-907.

6. Sly DF, Trapido E, Ray S. Evidence of the Dose Effects of an Antitobacco Counteradvertising Campaign. Preventive Medicine 2002; 35(5): 511-518.

7. Pechmann C, Reibling ET. Antismoking Advertisements for Youths: An Independent Evaluation of Health, Counter-Industry, and Industry Approaches. Am J Public Health 2006; 96(5): 906-913.

8. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health, 1994.

Kool Knockoffs – img12253

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Tobacco brand advertisements are among the most spoofed in advertising history, particularly for anti-smoking campaigns (7). Perhaps this is because the success of cigarette advertising has been immense. RJ Reynold’s Joe Camel was extremely successful at establishing itself as a household name. By age 6, an equal number of children were able to recognize Joe Camel and its association with cigarettes as Mickey Mouse with the Disney Channel, even though cigarette ads had been banned from television before their lifetime(6). Though Joe Camel’s campaign only ran from 1987 to 1997, this era saw an increase in Camel’s market share of cigarettes among children from 0.5% to 32.8%, with estimated sales of $476 million per year (4). If such brands are so successful at bringing positive attention to a harmful product through advertisements, then the same advertisements, altered to present a different message, can be used to ruin the product’s image as well. This is the basis of using knock-offs or spoofs as a form of anti-smoking advertisement.

Spoof ads are considered subvertisements, and have been dubbed a type of “culture jamming” by Adbusters, an anti-consumerism organization that created “Joe Chemo” ads(1). Whereas advertisements are meant to enhance the image of a product , subvertising uses irony and sarcasm to criticize and mock the product.

The research that has been done on other anti-tobacco campaign strategies may apply to these spoofs and give us an idea of their effectiveness. One study evaluated the reactions to spoofs by evaluating Youtube comments on ad spoofs, and it seems that most of the ads invoke humor, rather than fear, empathy, or anger (8). It is uncertain whether humor enhances the effectiveness of the ads. In focus groups, humor seems to increase the likeability of an ad, which aids in recall (2). However, likability doesn’t necessarily translate into altered behaviors, and there is a possibility that humor distracts viewers from the intended message (8).

Another study showed that children were more likely to pay attention to a message that featured familiar characters (3). Using recognizable icons like Joe Camel or the Marlboro Man, two of the more popular choices for knock-off ads, will draw more attention to the ad and make people stop and look twice. But again, more attention doesn’t necessarily mean the ads are more effective in reducing smoking, especially if the ads generate negative responses. The smoking status of the viewer influences how the viewer will respond. Someone who doesn’t smoke and does not find smoking appealing with have a positive reaction to the ad and be more likely to recall the ad, while someone who smokes will be less accepting of the anti-smoking information. This may mean that spoofs may not be very effective at changing smoker’s beliefs and reducing intentions to smoke (8).

Though the persuasiveness of these ads has not been confirmed by research, the industries targeted by subvertisements feel threatened. Tobacco industry perception of potential damage may be an indicator of the power of the spoof ads. Legal action in Canada has been taken against Adbusters to prevent the group from airing their other spoofs on television. TV stations believe that subvertisements are influential enough to eliminate the rest of their sponsors (1). The resistance is towards subvertisements targeting other consumer products like fast food and alcohol, because previous anti-tobacco campaigns have already resulted in the restriction of tobacco ads on TV, so those sponsors are not a concern for the TV industry.

 

REFERENCES:

Adbusters. “Kalle Lasn: Clearing the Mindscape.” Adbusters Medial Foundation, 4 March 2009. Web. 20 June 2013. https://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters_blog/kalle_lasn_clearing_mindscape.html

Agostinelli G, Grube JW. Tobacco Counter-Advertising: A Review of the Literature and a Conceptual Model for Understanding Effects. Journal of Health and Communication 2003; 8: 107-127.

Blum A. Medicine vs Madison Avenue: Fighting Smoke With Smoke. JAMA 1980; 243(8): 739-740.

Brody JE. “Smoking Among Children is Linked to Cartoon Camel in Advertisements.” New York Times, 11 Dec 1991. Web. 20 June 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/11/us/smoking-among-children-is-linked-to-cartoon-camel-in-advertisements.html

DiFranza JR, Richards JW, Paulman PM, Wolf-Gillespie N, Fletcher C, Jaffe RD, Murray D. RJR Nabisco’s Cartoon Camel Promotes Camel Cigarettes to Children. JAMA 1991: 266(22): 3149-3153.

Fischer PM, Meyer PS, Richards JW Jr., Goldsten AO, Rojas TH. Brand Logo Recognition by Children Aged 3 to 6 Years: Mickey Mouse and Old Joe the Camel. JAMA 1991; 266(22): 3145-3148.

Harvest Communications LLC. Fwd: this made me laugh. How viral ad parodies impact your brand. Harvest Communications LLC 2002.

Parguel B, Lunardo R, Chebat JC. When activism may prove counterproductive: An exploratory study of anti-brand spoof advertising effects in the tobacco industry. Première Journée Interantionale du Marketing Santé, France (2010).

Racist Ads – img11187

May 25, 2021 by sutobacco

As World War II came to a close, tobacco companies needed to expand to “new” markets in order to maintain prosperity. At this point, they began issuing mass marketing efforts targeting African Americans as the demographic became urban-centric and earned more wages. Before this mass market expansion in the 1940s and 50s, however, tobacco companies sang a very different tune. Indeed, in the first decades of the twentieth century, the only ads featuring African Americans were racist advertisements that used black caricatures to advertise to white consumers.

An historian of African American history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Professor Robert E. Weems, Jr., explains that “when African Americans were perceived to be a group with very limited spending power, many companies employed the derogatory term ‘nigger’ in naming products” (1). Indeed, our collection includes ads for “Nigger Hair Tobacco,” among other racist advertisements.

When advertisers began to realize that the African American market was untapped and potentially lucrative, countless articles were printed offering businessmen and admen advice on how to attract African American consumers. One article from 1943, written by the “Negro market expert,” David J. Sullivan, actually alerted advertisers of racist techniques which should be avoided in order to prevent pushing away African American consumers. The essay, entitled “Don’t Do This—If You Want to Sell Your Products to Negroes!,” urged advertisements to avoid racist caricatures, such as “buxom, broad-faced, grinning mammies and Aunt Jemimas” or “the ‘Uncle Mose’ type … characterized by kinky hair and as a stooped, tall, lean and grayed sharecropper, always in rags.” (2)

1. Weems, Jr., Robert E. “African American Consumers since World War II.” Kusmer, Kenneth L. and Koe W. Trotter, eds. “African American Urban History Since World War II.” Chicago:The Univeristy of Chicago Press. 2009:359-375.

2. Sullivan, David J. “The American Negro—An ‘Export’ Market at Home!” Printer’s Ink; 208:3. 21 July 1944:90.

Brazil – img12821

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

It is known that smoking cigarettes has numerous harmful effects on people’s health, and one tactic used to dissuade people from smoking is explicitly stating these effects on cigarette boxes via warning labels. People are more likely to see an anti-smoking message if it is present in the form of a label right on the outside of the cigarette box they are holding, which is why these pack warning labels can be an effective form of advertising.1

They can be text-only, like the ones on Winston cigarettes boxes in the UK that say “Smoking seriously harms you and others around you,” or also include graphic images, such as the ones in Brazil that include images ranging from a stillborn baby to a dismembered and blackened foot. One study “found that 50 percent of subjects remembered the text-only warning label, while 83 percent correctly recalled the label that contained a graphic image,” so it is a more effective advertising strategy to incorporate pictures on labels because the message will then be more memorable. In fact, “research on pictorial warnings show that they are: (i) more likely to be noticed than text-only warning labels; (ii) more effective for educating smokers about the health risks of smoking and for increasing smokers’ thoughts about the health risks; and (iii) associated with increased motivation to quit smoking.”2 Pictorial labels are also more effective at raising awareness of the health effects of smoking in areas with low literacy rates.2

However, a study on the effectiveness of Canadian warning labels shines light on the big issue of whether or not people stop to read and think about the warning labels, as people who do so are the ones who are “significantly more likely to either quit, attempt to quit, or reduce their smoking.”3 Another issue that is often brought up is the defensive and avoidant behavior that pictorial images may elicit, but in reality, “such reactions are actually indicators of positive impact” caused by the presence of graphic images.2

Resources:

1. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/study-graphic-tobacco-warning-labels-more-effective-at-delivering-anti-smoking-message/

2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2733253/

3. http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/12/4/391.full.html

Growing Up In Smoke – img12730

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Many anti-smoking advertisements use children as a motivation for adults to quit smoking. The two most common themes in this category are 1) your children are suffering from your secondhand smoke, and 2) that you are being a poor role model for your children.

These ads remind smokers that their “choice” to smoke not only negatively affects themselves as individuals, but also harms innocent bystanders and those whom the smokers love most.

Children are particularly vulnerable because they have no say in the smoking habits of the adults in close proximity to them. Children exposed to secondhand smoke wheeze and cough more often, get sick more often, and experience more frequent and more intense life-threatening asthma attacks than children not exposed to secondhand smoke. (1)

Other ads in this category concentrate on the example smokers set for their children. Multiple studies have shown that children whose parents smoke are much more likely to start smoking themselves than are their peers. These ads thus force smokers to think about the consequences of smoking not just for themselves, but for others as well.

While the primary goal of these ads is to increase the number of adult quitters, the ads may also have cascading effects on adolescents. Unfortunately, literature on the effectiveness of these children-themed ads on adult quitting rates is lacking, and there has not been extensive research on whether the ads persuade adults to talk to their children about smoking.

However, there is research on how parental smoking and parental behaviors affect smoking behaviors in children. Smoking socialization, which can include both directly transmitted knowledge of smoking through parental conversations with children and indirectly transmitted knowledge through parental smoking habits, has been shown to influence children’s future smoking habits. Exposure to second-hand smoke and a lack of anti-smoking expectations and smoking-specific rules are parenting behaviors associated with current smoking in adolescents and the likelihood of children to pick up smoking later in life.

Interestingly, one study noted that while parenting behaviors had a significant impact on smoking patterns in adolescents, actual parental smoking did not (2). The results of this study suggest that perhaps ads that focus on the health of children should be supplemented with parenting advice for adult smokers. A second study also supports the claim that “higher quality” parenting, which in this case was defined as “positive in affect and tone, responsive, directive, and empathetic,” was associated with a lower likelihood of smoking initiation in adolescents, further indicating the importance of smoking socialization between parent and child (3).

Though the primary purpose of these children-themed ads may not be to prevent smoking in adolescents, the ads may raise awareness in families about the influence parents can have on their children’s smoking behaviors. If these ads are supplemented with support and advice on parenting and how to talk to children about smoking, they may have the potential to reduce smoking not just in adults, but also in adolescents as well.

REFERENCES:

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General: Secondhand Smoke: What It Means To You. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006 [accessed 2011 Mar 11].

2. Waa A, Edwards R, Newcombe R, Zhang J, Weerasekera D, Peace J, McDuff I. Parental behaviors, but not parental smoking, influence current smoking and smoking susceptibility among 15 and 15 year-old children. Aust NZ J Public Health 2011; 35: 530-536.

3. Richmond MJ, Mermelstein RJ, Wakschlag LS. Direction Observations of Parenting and Real-Time Negative Affect Among Adolescent Smokers and Nonsmokers. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology 2012; 0:1-12.

 

Bad Influence – img12724

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Many anti-smoking advertisements use children as a motivation for adults to quit smoking. The two most common themes in this category are 1) your children are suffering from your secondhand smoke, and 2) that you are being a poor role model for your children.

These ads remind smokers that their “choice” to smoke not only negatively affects themselves as individuals, but also harms innocent bystanders and those whom the smokers love most.

Children are particularly vulnerable because they have no say in the smoking habits of the adults in close proximity to them. Children exposed to secondhand smoke wheeze and cough more often, get sick more often, and experience more frequent and more intense life-threatening asthma attacks than children not exposed to secondhand smoke. (1)

Other ads in this category concentrate on the example smokers set for their children. Multiple studies have shown that children whose parents smoke are much more likely to start smoking themselves than are their peers. These ads thus force smokers to think about the consequences of smoking not just for themselves, but for others as well.

While the primary goal of these ads is to increase the number of adult quitters, the ads may also have cascading effects on adolescents. Unfortunately, literature on the effectiveness of these children-themed ads on adult quitting rates is lacking, and there has not been extensive research on whether the ads persuade adults to talk to their children about smoking.

However, there is research on how parental smoking and parental behaviors affect smoking behaviors in children. Smoking socialization, which can include both directly transmitted knowledge of smoking through parental conversations with children and indirectly transmitted knowledge through parental smoking habits, has been shown to influence children’s future smoking habits. Exposure to second-hand smoke and a lack of anti-smoking expectations and smoking-specific rules are parenting behaviors associated with current smoking in adolescents and the likelihood of children to pick up smoking later in life.

Interestingly, one study noted that while parenting behaviors had a significant impact on smoking patterns in adolescents, actual parental smoking did not (2). The results of this study suggest that perhaps ads that focus on the health of children should be supplemented with parenting advice for adult smokers. A second study also supports the claim that “higher quality” parenting, which in this case was defined as “positive in affect and tone, responsive, directive, and empathetic,” was associated with a lower likelihood of smoking initiation in adolescents, further indicating the importance of smoking socialization between parent and child (3).

Though the primary purpose of these children-themed ads may not be to prevent smoking in adolescents, the ads may raise awareness in families about the influence parents can have on their children’s smoking behaviors. If these ads are supplemented with support and advice on parenting and how to talk to children about smoking, they may have the potential to reduce smoking not just in adults, but also in adolescents as well.

REFERENCES:

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General: Secondhand Smoke: What It Means To You. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006 [accessed 2011 Mar 11].

2. Waa A, Edwards R, Newcombe R, Zhang J, Weerasekera D, Peace J, McDuff I. Parental behaviors, but not parental smoking, influence current smoking and smoking susceptibility among 15 and 15 year-old children. Aust NZ J Public Health 2011; 35: 530-536.

3. Richmond MJ, Mermelstein RJ, Wakschlag LS. Direction Observations of Parenting and Real-Time Negative Affect Among Adolescent Smokers and Nonsmokers. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology 2012; 0:1-12.

 

Racist Ads – img5045

May 25, 2021 by sutobacco

As World War II came to a close, tobacco companies needed to expand to “new” markets in order to maintain prosperity. At this point, they began issuing mass marketing efforts targeting African Americans as the demographic became urban-centric and earned more wages. Before this mass market expansion in the 1940s and 50s, however, tobacco companies sang a very different tune. Indeed, in the first decades of the twentieth century, the only ads featuring African Americans were racist advertisements that used black caricatures to advertise to white consumers.

An historian of African American history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Professor Robert E. Weems, Jr., explains that “when African Americans were perceived to be a group with very limited spending power, many companies employed the derogatory term ‘nigger’ in naming products” (1). Indeed, our collection includes ads for “Nigger Hair Tobacco,” among other racist advertisements.

When advertisers began to realize that the African American market was untapped and potentially lucrative, countless articles were printed offering businessmen and admen advice on how to attract African American consumers. One article from 1943, written by the “Negro market expert,” David J. Sullivan, actually alerted advertisers of racist techniques which should be avoided in order to prevent pushing away African American consumers. The essay, entitled “Don’t Do This—If You Want to Sell Your Products to Negroes!,” urged advertisements to avoid racist caricatures, such as “buxom, broad-faced, grinning mammies and Aunt Jemimas” or “the ‘Uncle Mose’ type … characterized by kinky hair and as a stooped, tall, lean and grayed sharecropper, always in rags.” (2)

1. Weems, Jr., Robert E. “African American Consumers since World War II.” Kusmer, Kenneth L. and Koe W. Trotter, eds. “African American Urban History Since World War II.” Chicago:The Univeristy of Chicago Press. 2009:359-375.

2. Sullivan, David J. “The American Negro—An ‘Export’ Market at Home!” Printer’s Ink; 208:3. 21 July 1944:90.

Children – img17864

June 2, 2021 by sutobacco

Children have played a huge role in tobacco advertising over the decades and now appear in a number of electronic cigarette (e-cig) advertisements. The images of children fulfill multiple purposes for e-cig advertisers.

Depictions of children with their mothers or fathers in cigarette ads reinforced the respectability of smoking as a part of normal family life, a perception often promulgated by the tobacco industry. Further, the images of youngsters tended to send a reassuring message to consumers about the healthfulness of the product. For instance an ad for Flavor Vapes has the image of a mother blowing vapor from her e-cig into her baby’s carriage. The ad is intended to represent the purity and safety of the product- concepts, which can be dangerous when tied to e-cig products.

Finally, these depictions of children are an obvious ploy to attract females to smoking as part of the industry's campaign to expand the pool of women smokers. An ad for EverSmoke has a mother smoking in front of two children alongside the slogan, “ The Better Smoking Choice. Keep Yourself & Family Healthy.”

Bad Influence – img13262

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Many anti-smoking advertisements use children as a motivation for adults to quit smoking. The two most common themes in this category are 1) your children are suffering from your secondhand smoke, and 2) that you are being a poor role model for your children.

These ads remind smokers that their “choice” to smoke not only negatively affects themselves as individuals, but also harms innocent bystanders and those whom the smokers love most.

Children are particularly vulnerable because they have no say in the smoking habits of the adults in close proximity to them. Children exposed to secondhand smoke wheeze and cough more often, get sick more often, and experience more frequent and more intense life-threatening asthma attacks than children not exposed to secondhand smoke. (1)

Other ads in this category concentrate on the example smokers set for their children. Multiple studies have shown that children whose parents smoke are much more likely to start smoking themselves than are their peers. These ads thus force smokers to think about the consequences of smoking not just for themselves, but for others as well.

While the primary goal of these ads is to increase the number of adult quitters, the ads may also have cascading effects on adolescents. Unfortunately, literature on the effectiveness of these children-themed ads on adult quitting rates is lacking, and there has not been extensive research on whether the ads persuade adults to talk to their children about smoking.

However, there is research on how parental smoking and parental behaviors affect smoking behaviors in children. Smoking socialization, which can include both directly transmitted knowledge of smoking through parental conversations with children and indirectly transmitted knowledge through parental smoking habits, has been shown to influence children’s future smoking habits. Exposure to second-hand smoke and a lack of anti-smoking expectations and smoking-specific rules are parenting behaviors associated with current smoking in adolescents and the likelihood of children to pick up smoking later in life.

Interestingly, one study noted that while parenting behaviors had a significant impact on smoking patterns in adolescents, actual parental smoking did not (2). The results of this study suggest that perhaps ads that focus on the health of children should be supplemented with parenting advice for adult smokers. A second study also supports the claim that “higher quality” parenting, which in this case was defined as “positive in affect and tone, responsive, directive, and empathetic,” was associated with a lower likelihood of smoking initiation in adolescents, further indicating the importance of smoking socialization between parent and child (3).

Though the primary purpose of these children-themed ads may not be to prevent smoking in adolescents, the ads may raise awareness in families about the influence parents can have on their children’s smoking behaviors. If these ads are supplemented with support and advice on parenting and how to talk to children about smoking, they may have the potential to reduce smoking not just in adults, but also in adolescents as well.

REFERENCES:

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General: Secondhand Smoke: What It Means To You. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006 [accessed 2011 Mar 11].

2. Waa A, Edwards R, Newcombe R, Zhang J, Weerasekera D, Peace J, McDuff I. Parental behaviors, but not parental smoking, influence current smoking and smoking susceptibility among 15 and 15 year-old children. Aust NZ J Public Health 2011; 35: 530-536.

3. Richmond MJ, Mermelstein RJ, Wakschlag LS. Direction Observations of Parenting and Real-Time Negative Affect Among Adolescent Smokers and Nonsmokers. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology 2012; 0:1-12.

 

Camel Knockoffs – img12251

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Tobacco brand advertisements are among the most spoofed in advertising history, particularly for anti-smoking campaigns (7). Perhaps this is because the success of cigarette advertising has been immense. RJ Reynold’s Joe Camel was extremely successful at establishing itself as a household name. By age 6, an equal number of children were able to recognize Joe Camel and its association with cigarettes as Mickey Mouse with the Disney Channel, even though cigarette ads had been banned from television before their lifetime(6). Though Joe Camel’s campaign only ran from 1987 to 1997, this era saw an increase in Camel’s market share of cigarettes among children from 0.5% to 32.8%, with estimated sales of $476 million per year (4). If such brands are so successful at bringing positive attention to a harmful product through advertisements, then the same advertisements, altered to present a different message, can be used to ruin the product’s image as well. This is the basis of using knock-offs or spoofs as a form of anti-smoking advertisement.

Spoof ads are considered subvertisements, and have been dubbed a type of “culture jamming” by Adbusters, an anti-consumerism organization that created “Joe Chemo” ads(1). Whereas advertisements are meant to enhance the image of a product , subvertising uses irony and sarcasm to criticize and mock the product.

The research that has been done on other anti-tobacco campaign strategies may apply to these spoofs and give us an idea of their effectiveness. One study evaluated the reactions to spoofs by evaluating Youtube comments on ad spoofs, and it seems that most of the ads invoke humor, rather than fear, empathy, or anger (8). It is uncertain whether humor enhances the effectiveness of the ads. In focus groups, humor seems to increase the likeability of an ad, which aids in recall (2). However, likability doesn’t necessarily translate into altered behaviors, and there is a possibility that humor distracts viewers from the intended message (8).

Another study showed that children were more likely to pay attention to a message that featured familiar characters (3). Using recognizable icons like Joe Camel or the Marlboro Man, two of the more popular choices for knock-off ads, will draw more attention to the ad and make people stop and look twice. But again, more attention doesn’t necessarily mean the ads are more effective in reducing smoking, especially if the ads generate negative responses. The smoking status of the viewer influences how the viewer will respond. Someone who doesn’t smoke and does not find smoking appealing with have a positive reaction to the ad and be more likely to recall the ad, while someone who smokes will be less accepting of the anti-smoking information. This may mean that spoofs may not be very effective at changing smoker’s beliefs and reducing intentions to smoke (8).

Though the persuasiveness of these ads has not been confirmed by research, the industries targeted by subvertisements feel threatened. Tobacco industry perception of potential damage may be an indicator of the power of the spoof ads. Legal action in Canada has been taken against Adbusters to prevent the group from airing their other spoofs on television. TV stations believe that subvertisements are influential enough to eliminate the rest of their sponsors (1). The resistance is towards subvertisements targeting other consumer products like fast food and alcohol, because previous anti-tobacco campaigns have already resulted in the restriction of tobacco ads on TV, so those sponsors are not a concern for the TV industry.

 

REFERENCES:

Adbusters. “Kalle Lasn: Clearing the Mindscape.” Adbusters Medial Foundation, 4 March 2009. Web. 20 June 2013. https://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters_blog/kalle_lasn_clearing_mindscape.html

Agostinelli G, Grube JW. Tobacco Counter-Advertising: A Review of the Literature and a Conceptual Model for Understanding Effects. Journal of Health and Communication 2003; 8: 107-127.

Blum A. Medicine vs Madison Avenue: Fighting Smoke With Smoke. JAMA 1980; 243(8): 739-740.

Brody JE. “Smoking Among Children is Linked to Cartoon Camel in Advertisements.” New York Times, 11 Dec 1991. Web. 20 June 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/11/us/smoking-among-children-is-linked-to-cartoon-camel-in-advertisements.html

DiFranza JR, Richards JW, Paulman PM, Wolf-Gillespie N, Fletcher C, Jaffe RD, Murray D. RJR Nabisco’s Cartoon Camel Promotes Camel Cigarettes to Children. JAMA 1991: 266(22): 3149-3153.

Fischer PM, Meyer PS, Richards JW Jr., Goldsten AO, Rojas TH. Brand Logo Recognition by Children Aged 3 to 6 Years: Mickey Mouse and Old Joe the Camel. JAMA 1991; 266(22): 3145-3148.

Harvest Communications LLC. Fwd: this made me laugh. How viral ad parodies impact your brand. Harvest Communications LLC 2002.

Parguel B, Lunardo R, Chebat JC. When activism may prove counterproductive: An exploratory study of anti-brand spoof advertising effects in the tobacco industry. Première Journée Interantionale du Marketing Santé, France (2010).

Deaths – img12632

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Growing Up In Smoke – img12739

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Many anti-smoking advertisements use children as a motivation for adults to quit smoking. The two most common themes in this category are 1) your children are suffering from your secondhand smoke, and 2) that you are being a poor role model for your children.

These ads remind smokers that their “choice” to smoke not only negatively affects themselves as individuals, but also harms innocent bystanders and those whom the smokers love most.

Children are particularly vulnerable because they have no say in the smoking habits of the adults in close proximity to them. Children exposed to secondhand smoke wheeze and cough more often, get sick more often, and experience more frequent and more intense life-threatening asthma attacks than children not exposed to secondhand smoke. (1)

Other ads in this category concentrate on the example smokers set for their children. Multiple studies have shown that children whose parents smoke are much more likely to start smoking themselves than are their peers. These ads thus force smokers to think about the consequences of smoking not just for themselves, but for others as well.

While the primary goal of these ads is to increase the number of adult quitters, the ads may also have cascading effects on adolescents. Unfortunately, literature on the effectiveness of these children-themed ads on adult quitting rates is lacking, and there has not been extensive research on whether the ads persuade adults to talk to their children about smoking.

However, there is research on how parental smoking and parental behaviors affect smoking behaviors in children. Smoking socialization, which can include both directly transmitted knowledge of smoking through parental conversations with children and indirectly transmitted knowledge through parental smoking habits, has been shown to influence children’s future smoking habits. Exposure to second-hand smoke and a lack of anti-smoking expectations and smoking-specific rules are parenting behaviors associated with current smoking in adolescents and the likelihood of children to pick up smoking later in life.

Interestingly, one study noted that while parenting behaviors had a significant impact on smoking patterns in adolescents, actual parental smoking did not (2). The results of this study suggest that perhaps ads that focus on the health of children should be supplemented with parenting advice for adult smokers. A second study also supports the claim that “higher quality” parenting, which in this case was defined as “positive in affect and tone, responsive, directive, and empathetic,” was associated with a lower likelihood of smoking initiation in adolescents, further indicating the importance of smoking socialization between parent and child (3).

Though the primary purpose of these children-themed ads may not be to prevent smoking in adolescents, the ads may raise awareness in families about the influence parents can have on their children’s smoking behaviors. If these ads are supplemented with support and advice on parenting and how to talk to children about smoking, they may have the potential to reduce smoking not just in adults, but also in adolescents as well.

REFERENCES:

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General: Secondhand Smoke: What It Means To You. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006 [accessed 2011 Mar 11].

2. Waa A, Edwards R, Newcombe R, Zhang J, Weerasekera D, Peace J, McDuff I. Parental behaviors, but not parental smoking, influence current smoking and smoking susceptibility among 15 and 15 year-old children. Aust NZ J Public Health 2011; 35: 530-536.

3. Richmond MJ, Mermelstein RJ, Wakschlag LS. Direction Observations of Parenting and Real-Time Negative Affect Among Adolescent Smokers and Nonsmokers. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology 2012; 0:1-12.

 

Calms your Nerves – img3635

May 24, 2021 by sutobacco

In a prime example of marketing wizardry, tobacco advertisements have simultaneously presented cigarettes as both sedatives and stimulants. Ads worked to convince consumers that cigarettes would calm the smoker when he felt nervous, or pep him up when he felt sluggish. This theme features ad campaigns from a variety of cigarette brands, all proclaiming cigarettes to be sedatives. Many of the ads in this theme are for Camel cigarettes, and claimed that only Camel cigarettes “do not upset your nerves.” This claim implied that other cigarette brands are stimulants and do cause people to get the jitters, but Camels are the exception. Though Camel was prolific in their anti-nerves campaigns in the 1930s, they were certainly not the only tobacco brand to approach this advertising technique, nor the first.

In 1918, Girard cigars claimed that their cigar “never gets on your nerves,” a slogan which Camel also used over a decade later in 1933. Girard’s ads pose questions that many readers would invariably answer in the affirmative: “Are you easily irritated? Easily annoyed? Do children get on your nerves? Do you fly off the handle and then feel ashamed of yourself?” The ad forces most readers to question their behavior and convinces them that they need intervention, when prior to reading the ad, they felt nothing was wrong. The ad posits Girard as at least one thing that won’t cause anxiety and as the solution to the problems people never even knew they had.

Other ads positioned also their products as relaxing agents. A 1929 ad for Taretyon cigarettes claims that “Tareytons are the choice of busy, active people. People whose work requires steady nerves.” Similarly, many of Camel’s ads explain that people in high pressure situations can’t afford to feel nervous or to have shaky hands (sharpshooters, circus flyers, salesmen, surgeons). The ads don’t provide the reader with the opportunity to think that avoiding cigarettes altogether would be an option if they were worried about the nervous effects of smoking; Instead, Camels are presented as the only “solution” to the nicotine-jolt problem. The ads target a wide variety of audiences, both male and female, young and old, daredevil and housewife. Camel ensures that everyone feels the need for a Camel fix, siting common fidgets like drumming one’s fingers, tapping one’s foot, jingling one’s keys, and even doodling as signs that someone has “jangled nerves.”

Still more brands took the anti-anxiety approach in their ads. In 1933, Lucky Strike advertised that “to anxiety – I bring relief, to distress – I bring courage.” One such ad features a man sitting nervously in the waiting room of a dentist’s office as a woman offers him a Lucky Strike to ease his nerves. Similarly, a 1929 ad for Spud cigarettes poses the question: “Do you smoke away anxiety?” Presuming you answered yes, the ad explains, “then you’ll appreciate Spud’s greater coolness.” The 1938 “Let up – Light up a Camel” campaign explained that “people with work to do break nerve tension” with Camels, and that “smokers find that Camel’s costlier tobaccos are soothing to the nerves!” Even 20 years later, in 1959, King Sano cigars advertised that “the man under pressure owes himself the utter luxury of the new ‘soft smoke’ King Sano.”

Also of note, many of these ads claim that Camels provide their smokers with “healthy nerves,” misleadingly implying that Camel cigarettes themselves are healthy.

Gift for Daddy – img4389

May 25, 2021 by sutobacco

Depictions of children with their mothers or fathers in cigarette ads have the enormous ability to reinforce the respectability of smoking as a part of normal family life. Because this perception is often promulgated by the tobacco industry, it is no surprise that many tobacco advertisements took advantage of Father’s Day. Indeed, many print ads, particularly from the Baby Boomer era, depict children gifting cigarette cartons to their fathers. The images of youngsters worked to send a reassuring message to consumers about the healthfulness of the product, as youngsters represent purity, vibrancy, and life – concepts which can be dangerous when tied to tobacco products. An R.J. Reynolds ad from 1953, for example, depicts a woman and her two children ready to surprise Dad with Cavaliers. The accompanying text speaks directly to children, essentially selling the tobacco products to kids: “Make your Dad’s eyes light up…as he lights up his favorite smoke…with love from you to him on Father’s Day” 1953

Smoking Guns – img12153

May 25, 2021 by sutobacco

In a prime example of marketing wizardry, tobacco advertisements have simultaneously presented cigarettes as both sedatives and stimulants. Ads worked to convince consumers that cigarettes would calm the smoker when he felt nervous, or pep him up when he felt sluggish. This theme features ad campaigns from a variety of cigarette brands, all proclaiming cigarettes to be sedatives. Many of the ads in this theme are for Camel cigarettes, and claimed that only Camel cigarettes “do not upset your nerves.” This claim implied that other cigarette brands are stimulants and do cause people to get the jitters, but Camels are the exception. Though Camel was prolific in their anti-nerves campaigns in the 1930s, they were certainly not the only tobacco brand to approach this advertising technique, nor the first.

In 1918, Girard cigars claimed that their cigar “never gets on your nerves,” a slogan which Camel also used over a decade later in 1933. Girard’s ads pose questions that many readers would invariably answer in the affirmative: “Are you easily irritated? Easily annoyed? Do children get on your nerves? Do you fly off the handle and then feel ashamed of yourself?” The ad forces most readers to question their behavior and convinces them that they need intervention, when prior to reading the ad, they felt nothing was wrong. The ad posits Girard as at least one thing that won’t cause anxiety and as the solution to the problems people never even knew they had.

Other ads positioned also their products as relaxing agents. A 1929 ad for Taretyon cigarettes claims that “Tareytons are the choice of busy, active people. People whose work requires steady nerves.” Similarly, many of Camel’s ads explain that people in high pressure situations can’t afford to feel nervous or to have shaky hands (sharpshooters, circus flyers, salesmen, surgeons). The ads don’t provide the reader with the opportunity to think that avoiding cigarettes altogether would be an option if they were worried about the nervous effects of smoking; Instead, Camels are presented as the only “solution” to the nicotine-jolt problem. The ads target a wide variety of audiences, both male and female, young and old, daredevil and housewife. Camel ensures that everyone feels the need for a Camel fix, siting common fidgets like drumming one’s fingers, tapping one’s foot, jingling one’s keys, and even doodling as signs that someone has “jangled nerves.”

Still more brands took the anti-anxiety approach in their ads. In 1933, Lucky Strike advertised that “to anxiety – I bring relief, to distress – I bring courage.” One such ad features a man sitting nervously in the waiting room of a dentist’s office as a woman offers him a Lucky Strike to ease his nerves. Similarly, a 1929 ad for Spud cigarettes poses the question: “Do you smoke away anxiety?” Presuming you answered yes, the ad explains, “then you’ll appreciate Spud’s greater coolness.” The 1938 “Let up – Light up a Camel” campaign explained that “people with work to do break nerve tension” with Camels, and that “smokers find that Camel’s costlier tobaccos are soothing to the nerves!” Even 20 years later, in 1959, King Sano cigars advertised that “the man under pressure owes himself the utter luxury of the new ‘soft smoke’ King Sano.”

Also of note, many of these ads claim that Camels provide their smokers with “healthy nerves,” misleadingly implying that Camel cigarettes themselves are healthy.

Targeting Teens – img20133

June 2, 2021 by sutobacco

Sponsorship of music and sporting events and the free distribution of cigarette products to lure teenagers to try the product was a technique often used by cigarette companies till tobacco branded sponsorship and the associated distribution of free samples were banned by the Tobacco Control Act. However, in the absence of regulation, electronic cigarette (e-cig) companies are adopting this ploy to target teens. For instance, the top 6 e-cig companies in 2012 to 2013, provided free samples at 348 events, many of which appear geared toward youth.

In order to lure youth to try the product, samples are distributed at popular music concerts, outside stores that are obviously teen-oriented, and even during the Superbowl. Various props are used to make the sampling more appealing. For instance, Vita Cigs offered free samples to passersby outside a store of the retail apparel giant “Forever 21.” The roadshow van closely resembled an ice-cream truck. Logic offered free samples along with free macaroons, and NJOY had a slew of sexy, well-toned, beach boys handing out their samples. The offer of free samples is well promoted through e-cig brands’ social media channels. Photos of the sampling events are posted on the various social media channels.

The deeming regulations proposed by the FDA in early 2014, proposed a ban on the distribution of free samples. However, given that the regulations may not come into effect for at least a year or two, it gives e-cig companies several opportunities to continue to get yet another generation of teens nicotine addicted.

Camel Knockoffs – img12241

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Tobacco brand advertisements are among the most spoofed in advertising history, particularly for anti-smoking campaigns (7). Perhaps this is because the success of cigarette advertising has been immense. RJ Reynold’s Joe Camel was extremely successful at establishing itself as a household name. By age 6, an equal number of children were able to recognize Joe Camel and its association with cigarettes as Mickey Mouse with the Disney Channel, even though cigarette ads had been banned from television before their lifetime(6). Though Joe Camel’s campaign only ran from 1987 to 1997, this era saw an increase in Camel’s market share of cigarettes among children from 0.5% to 32.8%, with estimated sales of $476 million per year (4). If such brands are so successful at bringing positive attention to a harmful product through advertisements, then the same advertisements, altered to present a different message, can be used to ruin the product’s image as well. This is the basis of using knock-offs or spoofs as a form of anti-smoking advertisement.

Spoof ads are considered subvertisements, and have been dubbed a type of “culture jamming” by Adbusters, an anti-consumerism organization that created “Joe Chemo” ads(1). Whereas advertisements are meant to enhance the image of a product , subvertising uses irony and sarcasm to criticize and mock the product.

The research that has been done on other anti-tobacco campaign strategies may apply to these spoofs and give us an idea of their effectiveness. One study evaluated the reactions to spoofs by evaluating Youtube comments on ad spoofs, and it seems that most of the ads invoke humor, rather than fear, empathy, or anger (8). It is uncertain whether humor enhances the effectiveness of the ads. In focus groups, humor seems to increase the likeability of an ad, which aids in recall (2). However, likability doesn’t necessarily translate into altered behaviors, and there is a possibility that humor distracts viewers from the intended message (8).

Another study showed that children were more likely to pay attention to a message that featured familiar characters (3). Using recognizable icons like Joe Camel or the Marlboro Man, two of the more popular choices for knock-off ads, will draw more attention to the ad and make people stop and look twice. But again, more attention doesn’t necessarily mean the ads are more effective in reducing smoking, especially if the ads generate negative responses. The smoking status of the viewer influences how the viewer will respond. Someone who doesn’t smoke and does not find smoking appealing with have a positive reaction to the ad and be more likely to recall the ad, while someone who smokes will be less accepting of the anti-smoking information. This may mean that spoofs may not be very effective at changing smoker’s beliefs and reducing intentions to smoke (8).

Though the persuasiveness of these ads has not been confirmed by research, the industries targeted by subvertisements feel threatened. Tobacco industry perception of potential damage may be an indicator of the power of the spoof ads. Legal action in Canada has been taken against Adbusters to prevent the group from airing their other spoofs on television. TV stations believe that subvertisements are influential enough to eliminate the rest of their sponsors (1). The resistance is towards subvertisements targeting other consumer products like fast food and alcohol, because previous anti-tobacco campaigns have already resulted in the restriction of tobacco ads on TV, so those sponsors are not a concern for the TV industry.

 

REFERENCES:

Adbusters. “Kalle Lasn: Clearing the Mindscape.” Adbusters Medial Foundation, 4 March 2009. Web. 20 June 2013. https://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters_blog/kalle_lasn_clearing_mindscape.html

Agostinelli G, Grube JW. Tobacco Counter-Advertising: A Review of the Literature and a Conceptual Model for Understanding Effects. Journal of Health and Communication 2003; 8: 107-127.

Blum A. Medicine vs Madison Avenue: Fighting Smoke With Smoke. JAMA 1980; 243(8): 739-740.

Brody JE. “Smoking Among Children is Linked to Cartoon Camel in Advertisements.” New York Times, 11 Dec 1991. Web. 20 June 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/11/us/smoking-among-children-is-linked-to-cartoon-camel-in-advertisements.html

DiFranza JR, Richards JW, Paulman PM, Wolf-Gillespie N, Fletcher C, Jaffe RD, Murray D. RJR Nabisco’s Cartoon Camel Promotes Camel Cigarettes to Children. JAMA 1991: 266(22): 3149-3153.

Fischer PM, Meyer PS, Richards JW Jr., Goldsten AO, Rojas TH. Brand Logo Recognition by Children Aged 3 to 6 Years: Mickey Mouse and Old Joe the Camel. JAMA 1991; 266(22): 3145-3148.

Harvest Communications LLC. Fwd: this made me laugh. How viral ad parodies impact your brand. Harvest Communications LLC 2002.

Parguel B, Lunardo R, Chebat JC. When activism may prove counterproductive: An exploratory study of anti-brand spoof advertising effects in the tobacco industry. Première Journée Interantionale du Marketing Santé, France (2010).

Gift for Daddy – img4390

May 25, 2021 by sutobacco

Depictions of children with their mothers or fathers in cigarette ads have the enormous ability to reinforce the respectability of smoking as a part of normal family life. Because this perception is often promulgated by the tobacco industry, it is no surprise that many tobacco advertisements took advantage of Father’s Day. Indeed, many print ads, particularly from the Baby Boomer era, depict children gifting cigarette cartons to their fathers. The images of youngsters worked to send a reassuring message to consumers about the healthfulness of the product, as youngsters represent purity, vibrancy, and life – concepts which can be dangerous when tied to tobacco products. An R.J. Reynolds ad from 1953, for example, depicts a woman and her two children ready to surprise Dad with Cavaliers. The accompanying text speaks directly to children, essentially selling the tobacco products to kids: “Make your Dad’s eyes light up…as he lights up his favorite smoke…with love from you to him on Father’s Day” 1953

Gift for Daddy – img4395

May 25, 2021 by sutobacco

Depictions of children with their mothers or fathers in cigarette ads have the enormous ability to reinforce the respectability of smoking as a part of normal family life. Because this perception is often promulgated by the tobacco industry, it is no surprise that many tobacco advertisements took advantage of Father’s Day. Indeed, many print ads, particularly from the Baby Boomer era, depict children gifting cigarette cartons to their fathers. The images of youngsters worked to send a reassuring message to consumers about the healthfulness of the product, as youngsters represent purity, vibrancy, and life – concepts which can be dangerous when tied to tobacco products. An R.J. Reynolds ad from 1953, for example, depicts a woman and her two children ready to surprise Dad with Cavaliers. The accompanying text speaks directly to children, essentially selling the tobacco products to kids: “Make your Dad’s eyes light up…as he lights up his favorite smoke…with love from you to him on Father’s Day” 1953

Gift for Daddy – img4396

May 25, 2021 by sutobacco

Depictions of children with their mothers or fathers in cigarette ads have the enormous ability to reinforce the respectability of smoking as a part of normal family life. Because this perception is often promulgated by the tobacco industry, it is no surprise that many tobacco advertisements took advantage of Father’s Day. Indeed, many print ads, particularly from the Baby Boomer era, depict children gifting cigarette cartons to their fathers. The images of youngsters worked to send a reassuring message to consumers about the healthfulness of the product, as youngsters represent purity, vibrancy, and life – concepts which can be dangerous when tied to tobacco products. An R.J. Reynolds ad from 1953, for example, depicts a woman and her two children ready to surprise Dad with Cavaliers. The accompanying text speaks directly to children, essentially selling the tobacco products to kids: “Make your Dad’s eyes light up…as he lights up his favorite smoke…with love from you to him on Father’s Day” 1953

Gift for Daddy – img4398

May 25, 2021 by sutobacco

Depictions of children with their mothers or fathers in cigarette ads have the enormous ability to reinforce the respectability of smoking as a part of normal family life. Because this perception is often promulgated by the tobacco industry, it is no surprise that many tobacco advertisements took advantage of Father’s Day. Indeed, many print ads, particularly from the Baby Boomer era, depict children gifting cigarette cartons to their fathers. The images of youngsters worked to send a reassuring message to consumers about the healthfulness of the product, as youngsters represent purity, vibrancy, and life – concepts which can be dangerous when tied to tobacco products. An R.J. Reynolds ad from 1953, for example, depicts a woman and her two children ready to surprise Dad with Cavaliers. The accompanying text speaks directly to children, essentially selling the tobacco products to kids: “Make your Dad’s eyes light up…as he lights up his favorite smoke…with love from you to him on Father’s Day” 1953

Gift for Daddy – img4399

May 25, 2021 by sutobacco

Depictions of children with their mothers or fathers in cigarette ads have the enormous ability to reinforce the respectability of smoking as a part of normal family life. Because this perception is often promulgated by the tobacco industry, it is no surprise that many tobacco advertisements took advantage of Father’s Day. Indeed, many print ads, particularly from the Baby Boomer era, depict children gifting cigarette cartons to their fathers. The images of youngsters worked to send a reassuring message to consumers about the healthfulness of the product, as youngsters represent purity, vibrancy, and life – concepts which can be dangerous when tied to tobacco products. An R.J. Reynolds ad from 1953, for example, depicts a woman and her two children ready to surprise Dad with Cavaliers. The accompanying text speaks directly to children, essentially selling the tobacco products to kids: “Make your Dad’s eyes light up…as he lights up his favorite smoke…with love from you to him on Father’s Day” 1953

Gift for Daddy – img4401

May 25, 2021 by sutobacco

Depictions of children with their mothers or fathers in cigarette ads have the enormous ability to reinforce the respectability of smoking as a part of normal family life. Because this perception is often promulgated by the tobacco industry, it is no surprise that many tobacco advertisements took advantage of Father’s Day. Indeed, many print ads, particularly from the Baby Boomer era, depict children gifting cigarette cartons to their fathers. The images of youngsters worked to send a reassuring message to consumers about the healthfulness of the product, as youngsters represent purity, vibrancy, and life – concepts which can be dangerous when tied to tobacco products. An R.J. Reynolds ad from 1953, for example, depicts a woman and her two children ready to surprise Dad with Cavaliers. The accompanying text speaks directly to children, essentially selling the tobacco products to kids: “Make your Dad’s eyes light up…as he lights up his favorite smoke…with love from you to him on Father’s Day” 1953

Children – img4369

May 25, 2021 by sutobacco

Children have played a huge role in tobacco advertising over the decades, and images of children fulfill multiple purposes for tobacco advertisers. Particularly in the Baby Boomer era, depictions of children with their mothers or fathers in cigarette ads reinforced the respectability of smoking as a part of normal family life, a perception often promulgated by the tobacco industry. Further, the images of youngsters tended to send a reassuring message to consumers about the healthfulness of the product, representing purity, vibrancy, and life – concepts which can be dangerous when tied to tobacco products. Finally, these depictions of children were an obvious ploy to attract females to smoking as part of the industry’s campaign to expand the pool of women smokers.

Lung Disease – img13230

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

One of the most common anti-smoking advertisement approaches is featuring smoking-related diseases as the consequence of smoking. Ads in this “disease” category stress the long-term and short-term consequences of smoking. They are meant to inform people about the risks of smoking and counter the tobacco industry’s portrayal of smoking as glamorous and healthy.

These advertisements range from gruesome pictures of pain and suffering to images that would seem completely unrelated to smoking if it were not for the captions. Many show what smoking-related diseases look like and what they do to specific parts of the human body. The most graphic ads are meant to evoke feelings of disgust and fear that will discourage people from continuing to smoke or will prevent people from beginning to smoke in the first place.

According to the current literature, the effectiveness of these ads is ambiguous and varies among target groups. Several studies have found that ads that show long-term health consequences of smoking, such as cancers and heart disease, are less effective among youth than adults. One study suggests that adolescents are not responsive to these ads because they are already aware of the potential dangers of smoking, and these consequences seem so far in the future that they feel immune to them, believing they can quit before they contract the diseases in question (1). Adults, however, seem to be much more receptive to fear and threat, and rises in calls to quitlines and public health departments demonstrate increases in quit attempts as a result of exposure to antismoking campaigns (1).

Another reason these ads may be ineffective is because threatening information can induce defensive biases that cause the audience to stop processing the information (2). Fear, specifically, activates psychological reactance, which is a response that may lead to rejection of the message because a person’s freedom is threatened (3).

However, another study shows contrasting results and suggests that ads with higher emotional intensity, such as those that feature graphic disease or suffering, lead to reduced intention to smoke (3). These ads are more likely to be recalled, which means that they are cost-effective because they don’t have to be distributed as often to be effective.

An explanation for these conflicting results may come from another study, which examines the closely tied feelings of fear and empathy, sentiments that can both arise from seeing images of people suffering from diseases (4). The findings of this study suggest that the feeling of empathy that often comes from seeing people suffer from these diseases can increase the persuasiveness of the message, while, fear may decrease the persuasiveness of the ads by activating psychological reactance, leading to rejection of a message when freedom is threatened (4).

The effectiveness of disease-related ads may also vary between smokers and nonsmokers. Anit-tobacco advertisements are often processed in an attitude-consistent fashion. This means non-smokers tend to agree with the ads and retain the messages better, while smokers tend to avoid negative-self implications, disagree with the messages, and become less responsive to them. Repeatedly showing these advertisements to people who look upon these messages unfavorably may even strengthen these initially defensive responses(5). Similarly, fatigue by repetition may desensitize any audience to these messages.

Some methods of using disease to discourage smoking behaviors may be more effective than others. For youth audiences, highlighting their vulnerability to these diseases may be much more important than stressing the severity of the potential problems(6). In the context of low perceived vulnerability, emphasizing health risks could increase the symbolic value of smoking as a risk-seeking, rebellious, and thus attractive behavior(6). These ads appear to work better if youth know how to refuse cigarettes from peers. Thus, to enhance the effectiveness of these ads, they should be supplemented with in-school programs that teach youth these skills.

As mentioned above, ads that evoke empathy, instead of fear, can increase the persuasiveness of disease ads for youth(4). The youth audience has to be able to personally relate to the ads in order to respond to the messages. Ads that feature the long-term effects of smoking are more influential on adolescents who have personal experience with the disease represented in the ads, such as a friend or family member who has suffered or is suffering from the condition(1).

However, for youth who do not have personal experience with smoking-related diseases, the presence of a peer or someone slightly older in age that can act as a role model in the ad can increase responsiveness and help the young audience relate to the message. Anti-smoking ads that feature attractive models also lower smoking intent more than ads with unattractive models (7). Many studies have stressed the importance of testing the effectiveness of ads on focus groups to ensure that they work on their target audience before distributing them.

REFERENCES:

1. Goldman LK, Glantz SA. Evaluation of Antismoking Advertising Campaigns. JAMA 1998; 279: 772-777.

2. Agostinelli G, Grube JW. Tobacco Counter-Advertising: A Review of the Literature and a Conceptual Model for Understanding Effects. Journal of Health and Communication 2003; 8: 107-127.

3. Biener L, Wakefield M, Shiner CM, Siegel M. How Broadcast Volume and Emotional Content Affect Youth Recall of Anti-Tobacco Advertising. Am J Prev Med 2008; 35 (1).

4. Shen L. The Effectiveness of Empathy- Versus Fear-Arousing Antismoking PSAs. Health Communication 2011; 26: 404-415.

5. Leshner G, Bolls P, Wise K. Motivated Processing of Fear Appeal and Disgust Images in Televised Anti-Tobacco Ads.

6. Pechmann C, Zhao G, Goldberg ME, Reibling ET. What to Convey in Antismoking Advertisements for Adolescents: The Use of Protection Motivation Theory to Identify Effective Message Themes. Journal of Marketing 2003; 67: 1-18.

7. Shadel WG, Fryer CS, Tharp-Taylor S. Uncovering the most effective active ingredients of antismoking public service announcements: The role of actor and message characteristics. Nicotine & Tobacco Research; 11 (5); 547-552

Cigars – ing5752

June 4, 2021 by sutobacco

Cigars are often advertised directly to men, and, indeed, are represented as highly masculinized and often genteel. An ad from the Cigar Institute of America in 1963, for example, lets men know that if they “wear a cigar,” they will “look smart.” Masculinity is sometimes approached through sexualization of the cigar, as in the Don Diegos ad from the 1990s featuring a woman sucking on a cigar or the Celesitino Vega ad from the same period, which features a Hawaiian surfer posing at the beach with a giant, phallic surfboard painted to resemble a cigar. Other times, masculinity is portrayed through a more reserved route, as in the 1950s ad from the Cigar Institute of America, which claims that “In the eyes of his own family, every father is a success. And the father who knows cigars knows a very special kind of success.” The family unit and the fatherly figure are referenced often in cigar ads.

In addition, cigars are seen as a means to celebrate. An ad for Antonio y Cleopatra cigars says, “When a moment is worth remembering enjoy a cigar that’s hard to forget.” In the same vein, pink or blue candy cigars are often given to a new father to celebrate the birth of a child.

Beyond these approaches, many cigar ads focus on throat ease, since unlike cigarette smoke, cigar smoke cannot be inhaled due to its high alkalinity. Though these ads advertise health benefits for cigar smoking – Girard says its smoke is mild, so doctors recommend it, and Mell-O-Well calls its smoke “the health cigar” — cigar smoking is associated with higher incidences of oral cancers than cigarette smoking, and nicotine is absorbed in higher levels as well. Still, and ad for White Owl cigars tells you to switch to cigars or pipes “when you can’t give up smoking.” The main reason? No need to inhale. Most misleading, perhaps, is a 1964 ad from the Cigar Institute of America, which proclaims, incorrectly, “Cigar smokers start young and stay young!”

Calms your Nerves – img3680

May 24, 2021 by sutobacco

In a prime example of marketing wizardry, tobacco advertisements have simultaneously presented cigarettes as both sedatives and stimulants. Ads worked to convince consumers that cigarettes would calm the smoker when he felt nervous, or pep him up when he felt sluggish. This theme features ad campaigns from a variety of cigarette brands, all proclaiming cigarettes to be sedatives. Many of the ads in this theme are for Camel cigarettes, and claimed that only Camel cigarettes “do not upset your nerves.” This claim implied that other cigarette brands are stimulants and do cause people to get the jitters, but Camels are the exception. Though Camel was prolific in their anti-nerves campaigns in the 1930s, they were certainly not the only tobacco brand to approach this advertising technique, nor the first.

In 1918, Girard cigars claimed that their cigar “never gets on your nerves,” a slogan which Camel also used over a decade later in 1933. Girard’s ads pose questions that many readers would invariably answer in the affirmative: “Are you easily irritated? Easily annoyed? Do children get on your nerves? Do you fly off the handle and then feel ashamed of yourself?” The ad forces most readers to question their behavior and convinces them that they need intervention, when prior to reading the ad, they felt nothing was wrong. The ad posits Girard as at least one thing that won’t cause anxiety and as the solution to the problems people never even knew they had.

Other ads positioned also their products as relaxing agents. A 1929 ad for Taretyon cigarettes claims that “Tareytons are the choice of busy, active people. People whose work requires steady nerves.” Similarly, many of Camel’s ads explain that people in high pressure situations can’t afford to feel nervous or to have shaky hands (sharpshooters, circus flyers, salesmen, surgeons). The ads don’t provide the reader with the opportunity to think that avoiding cigarettes altogether would be an option if they were worried about the nervous effects of smoking; Instead, Camels are presented as the only “solution” to the nicotine-jolt problem. The ads target a wide variety of audiences, both male and female, young and old, daredevil and housewife. Camel ensures that everyone feels the need for a Camel fix, siting common fidgets like drumming one’s fingers, tapping one’s foot, jingling one’s keys, and even doodling as signs that someone has “jangled nerves.”

Still more brands took the anti-anxiety approach in their ads. In 1933, Lucky Strike advertised that “to anxiety – I bring relief, to distress – I bring courage.” One such ad features a man sitting nervously in the waiting room of a dentist’s office as a woman offers him a Lucky Strike to ease his nerves. Similarly, a 1929 ad for Spud cigarettes poses the question: “Do you smoke away anxiety?” Presuming you answered yes, the ad explains, “then you’ll appreciate Spud’s greater coolness.” The 1938 “Let up – Light up a Camel” campaign explained that “people with work to do break nerve tension” with Camels, and that “smokers find that Camel’s costlier tobaccos are soothing to the nerves!” Even 20 years later, in 1959, King Sano cigars advertised that “the man under pressure owes himself the utter luxury of the new ‘soft smoke’ King Sano.”

Also of note, many of these ads claim that Camels provide their smokers with “healthy nerves,” misleadingly implying that Camel cigarettes themselves are healthy.

Calms your Nerves – img3684

May 24, 2021 by sutobacco

In a prime example of marketing wizardry, tobacco advertisements have simultaneously presented cigarettes as both sedatives and stimulants. Ads worked to convince consumers that cigarettes would calm the smoker when he felt nervous, or pep him up when he felt sluggish. This theme features ad campaigns from a variety of cigarette brands, all proclaiming cigarettes to be sedatives. Many of the ads in this theme are for Camel cigarettes, and claimed that only Camel cigarettes “do not upset your nerves.” This claim implied that other cigarette brands are stimulants and do cause people to get the jitters, but Camels are the exception. Though Camel was prolific in their anti-nerves campaigns in the 1930s, they were certainly not the only tobacco brand to approach this advertising technique, nor the first.

In 1918, Girard cigars claimed that their cigar “never gets on your nerves,” a slogan which Camel also used over a decade later in 1933. Girard’s ads pose questions that many readers would invariably answer in the affirmative: “Are you easily irritated? Easily annoyed? Do children get on your nerves? Do you fly off the handle and then feel ashamed of yourself?” The ad forces most readers to question their behavior and convinces them that they need intervention, when prior to reading the ad, they felt nothing was wrong. The ad posits Girard as at least one thing that won’t cause anxiety and as the solution to the problems people never even knew they had.

Other ads positioned also their products as relaxing agents. A 1929 ad for Taretyon cigarettes claims that “Tareytons are the choice of busy, active people. People whose work requires steady nerves.” Similarly, many of Camel’s ads explain that people in high pressure situations can’t afford to feel nervous or to have shaky hands (sharpshooters, circus flyers, salesmen, surgeons). The ads don’t provide the reader with the opportunity to think that avoiding cigarettes altogether would be an option if they were worried about the nervous effects of smoking; Instead, Camels are presented as the only “solution” to the nicotine-jolt problem. The ads target a wide variety of audiences, both male and female, young and old, daredevil and housewife. Camel ensures that everyone feels the need for a Camel fix, siting common fidgets like drumming one’s fingers, tapping one’s foot, jingling one’s keys, and even doodling as signs that someone has “jangled nerves.”

Still more brands took the anti-anxiety approach in their ads. In 1933, Lucky Strike advertised that “to anxiety – I bring relief, to distress – I bring courage.” One such ad features a man sitting nervously in the waiting room of a dentist’s office as a woman offers him a Lucky Strike to ease his nerves. Similarly, a 1929 ad for Spud cigarettes poses the question: “Do you smoke away anxiety?” Presuming you answered yes, the ad explains, “then you’ll appreciate Spud’s greater coolness.” The 1938 “Let up – Light up a Camel” campaign explained that “people with work to do break nerve tension” with Camels, and that “smokers find that Camel’s costlier tobaccos are soothing to the nerves!” Even 20 years later, in 1959, King Sano cigars advertised that “the man under pressure owes himself the utter luxury of the new ‘soft smoke’ King Sano.”

Also of note, many of these ads claim that Camels provide their smokers with “healthy nerves,” misleadingly implying that Camel cigarettes themselves are healthy.

Calms your Nerves – img3696

May 24, 2021 by sutobacco

In a prime example of marketing wizardry, tobacco advertisements have simultaneously presented cigarettes as both sedatives and stimulants. Ads worked to convince consumers that cigarettes would calm the smoker when he felt nervous, or pep him up when he felt sluggish. This theme features ad campaigns from a variety of cigarette brands, all proclaiming cigarettes to be sedatives. Many of the ads in this theme are for Camel cigarettes, and claimed that only Camel cigarettes “do not upset your nerves.” This claim implied that other cigarette brands are stimulants and do cause people to get the jitters, but Camels are the exception. Though Camel was prolific in their anti-nerves campaigns in the 1930s, they were certainly not the only tobacco brand to approach this advertising technique, nor the first.

In 1918, Girard cigars claimed that their cigar “never gets on your nerves,” a slogan which Camel also used over a decade later in 1933. Girard’s ads pose questions that many readers would invariably answer in the affirmative: “Are you easily irritated? Easily annoyed? Do children get on your nerves? Do you fly off the handle and then feel ashamed of yourself?” The ad forces most readers to question their behavior and convinces them that they need intervention, when prior to reading the ad, they felt nothing was wrong. The ad posits Girard as at least one thing that won’t cause anxiety and as the solution to the problems people never even knew they had.

Other ads positioned also their products as relaxing agents. A 1929 ad for Taretyon cigarettes claims that “Tareytons are the choice of busy, active people. People whose work requires steady nerves.” Similarly, many of Camel’s ads explain that people in high pressure situations can’t afford to feel nervous or to have shaky hands (sharpshooters, circus flyers, salesmen, surgeons). The ads don’t provide the reader with the opportunity to think that avoiding cigarettes altogether would be an option if they were worried about the nervous effects of smoking; Instead, Camels are presented as the only “solution” to the nicotine-jolt problem. The ads target a wide variety of audiences, both male and female, young and old, daredevil and housewife. Camel ensures that everyone feels the need for a Camel fix, siting common fidgets like drumming one’s fingers, tapping one’s foot, jingling one’s keys, and even doodling as signs that someone has “jangled nerves.”

Still more brands took the anti-anxiety approach in their ads. In 1933, Lucky Strike advertised that “to anxiety – I bring relief, to distress – I bring courage.” One such ad features a man sitting nervously in the waiting room of a dentist’s office as a woman offers him a Lucky Strike to ease his nerves. Similarly, a 1929 ad for Spud cigarettes poses the question: “Do you smoke away anxiety?” Presuming you answered yes, the ad explains, “then you’ll appreciate Spud’s greater coolness.” The 1938 “Let up – Light up a Camel” campaign explained that “people with work to do break nerve tension” with Camels, and that “smokers find that Camel’s costlier tobaccos are soothing to the nerves!” Even 20 years later, in 1959, King Sano cigars advertised that “the man under pressure owes himself the utter luxury of the new ‘soft smoke’ King Sano.”

Also of note, many of these ads claim that Camels provide their smokers with “healthy nerves,” misleadingly implying that Camel cigarettes themselves are healthy.

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