• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
SRITA

SRITA

Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising

Show Search
Hide Search
  • Ad Collections
    • Cigarettes
    • Pipes & Cigars
    • Chewing
    • Pouches & Gums
    • Marijuana
    • e-Cigarettes
    • Pod e-Cigs
    • Disposable e-Cigs
    • Heated Tobacco
    • Hookah
    • Anti-smoking
    • Comparisons
    • Video Ads
  • Brand Histories
  • Videos & Lectures
  • Publications
  • Resources
  • Exhibit
  • About SRITA
    • People
    • Research Interns
    • In the Press
    • Contact Us
Home > Cigarettes > African Americans > Targeting Black Women

Collection: Targeting Black Women

In targeting black women, tobacco companies often portray an image of a strong, independent black woman. Increasingly, in the 1960s and 1970s, models wearing “naturals” or Afros began popping up in ads for Newport, L&M, Kent, Kool, and many more. A Kent ad from 1968 features a glamorous black woman wearing an Afro and luxurious jewelry next to the slogan, “Kent smokes… and that’s where it’s at.” Recent Salem ads from the 2000s feature the slogan, “Stir the senses,” and each ad depicts a sexy black woman smoking in green, mentholated ecstasy. A Camel ad from 2001 portrays a beautiful black woman singing in a nightclub in the “diva” tradition of Whitney Houston and Beyoncé Knowles. A Virginia Slims campaign from roughly the same time used the slogan “Find Your Voice” coupled with images of strong African women. For example, an ad from the campaign in 2000 features a woman in traditional clothing, balancing bolts of fabric on her head. The text beside her, half in Swahili, reads,”Kila mtu ana uzuri wake – No single institution owns the copyright for BEAUTY.” In this way, Virginia Slims portrays an image of accepting diverse standards of beauty.

130 Images in Collection

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

Footer

About SRITA

SRITA’s repository of tobacco advertising supports scholarly research and public inquiry into the promotional activities of the tobacco industry. Learn more

Explore SRITA

  • Ad Collections
  • Video Ads
  • Brand Histories
  • Lectures
  • Publications
  • Resources

Copyright © 2025 · Stanford University