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Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising

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Opera Stars – img17005

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Opera stars had a particular appeal for cigarette advertisers. The emphasis on an opera star’s line of work was an ideal avenue for portraying cigarettes as healthful, rather than harmful. Opera stars were particularly convincing, because if an opera singer entrusted his voice and throat – his source of revenue – to a cigarette brand, then it seems impossible for the smoke to be irritating or dangerous.

Our earliest endorsement from an opera star is for Tuxedo tobacco in 1915, followed by a generic endorsement from an “opera singer” for Helmar cigarettes in 1916. Old Gold enlisted a few opera singers in the early 1930s, but Lucky Strike dominated the arena in second half of the decade, with a series on stars of the Metropolitan Opera Company. By the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, Camel was on the scene enlisting handfuls of opera singers to endorse their product.

Singers – img17046

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In the 1920s, tobacco companies began enlisting hundreds of celebrities to endorse their products. In these advertisements, movie stars, famous singers, athletes, and even socialites graced the pages of popular magazines, editorials, and newspapers printed across the country. The 1920s and 1930s were the heyday of celebrity endorsement, with celebrities hawking everything from cigarettes to soap, from pantyhose to cars. However, it seems that no company was as prolific in its celebrity ad copy as Lucky Strike.

Singers were vital components of celebrity testimonial campaigns for cigarette companies; the emphasis on healthy, clear voices in the singers’ line of work was an ideal avenue for portraying cigarettes as healthful, rather than harmful. The concept was that if a famous singer entrusted her voice and throat – her source of revenue – to a cigarette brand, then it must not be so bad! “If it’s good enough for Frank Sinatra, it’s good enough for me,” a consumer might decide. It is ironic, of course, that these ads also worked to reveal the possible side effects of smoking by providing a problem (irritated throats, for example) and a solution (smoke our brand.) Still, this “problem-solution” advertising was very popular at the time, and worked to position one brand as the exception to the problem rule or as the least problematic of all cigarette brands. It also served to trivialize health side effects of smoking, masking more serious side effects in the process.

Stars were also used to attract a younger crowd. Stars were glamorous and represented a walk of life attractive to consumers who were already invested in tabloids and the lives of the show business elite. It wasn’t until 1964 that tobacco companies were banned from using testimonials from athletes, entertainers, and other famous personalities who might be appealing to consumers under 21 years of age.

Movie Stars – Women – img2157

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The 1920s and 1930s saw the heyday of celebrity endorsement, with celebrities hawking everything from soap and pantyhose to canned beans and cars. Tobacco companies were especially fond of celebrity testimonials, enlisting hundreds upon hundreds of celebrities to endorse their tobacco products well into the 1960s. In these advertisements, movie stars, famous singers, athletes, and even socialites graced the pages of popular magazines, editorials, and newspapers printed across the country.

Famous voices, in this case female movie stars, had a particular appeal for cigarette advertisers. The emphasis on a healthy, clear voice in the movie star’s line of work was an ideal avenue for portraying cigarettes as healthful, rather than harmful. The concept was that if a famous actress entrusted her voice and throat – her source of revenue – to a cigarette brand, then it must not be so bad! For example, a consumer might see an ad and muse, “If Lucille Ball trusts Chesterfield, then it’s good enough for me.” In addition to providing health claims, movie stars were also glamorous and represented a walk of life attractive to consumers who were already invested in tabloids and the lives of the show business elite.

It wasn’t until 1964 that tobacco companies were banned from using testimonials from athletes, entertainers, and other famous personalities who might be appealing to consumers under 21 years of age.

The 1920s and 1930s saw the heyday of celebrity endorsement, with celebrities hawking everything from soap and pantyhose to canned beans and cars. Tobacco companies were especially fond of celebrity testimonials, enlisting hundreds upon hundreds of celebrities to endorse their tobacco products well into the 1960s. In these advertisements, movie stars, famous singers, athletes, and even socialites graced the pages of popular magazines, editorials, and newspapers printed across the country.

Famous voices, in this case female movie stars, had a particular appeal for cigarette advertisers. The emphasis on a healthy, clear voice in the movie star’s line of work was an ideal avenue for portraying cigarettes as healthful, rather than harmful. The concept was that if a famous actress entrusted her voice and throat – her source of revenue – to a cigarette brand, then it must not be so bad! For example, a consumer might see an ad and muse, “If Lucille Ball trusts Chesterfield, then it’s good enough for me.” In addition to providing health claims, movie stars were also glamorous and represented a walk of life attractive to consumers who were already invested in tabloids and the lives of the show business elite.

It wasn’t until 1964 that tobacco companies were banned from using testimonials from athletes, entertainers, and other famous personalities who might be appealing to consumers under 21 years of age.

Movie Stars – Men – img2405

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The 1920s and 1930s saw the heyday of celebrity endorsement, with celebrities hawking everything from soap and pantyhose to canned beans and cars. Tobacco companies were especially fond of celebrity testimonials, enlisting hundreds upon hundreds of celebrities to endorse their tobacco products well into the 1960s. In these advertisements, movie stars, famous singers, athletes, and even socialites graced the pages of popular magazines, editorials, and newspapers printed across the country.

Famous voices, in this case male movie stars, had a particular appeal for cigarette advertisers. The emphasis on a healthy, clear voice in the actor’s line of work was an ideal avenue for portraying cigarettes as healthful, rather than harmful. The concept was that if a famous actor entrusted his voice and throat – his source of revenue – to a cigarette brand, then it must not be so bad! For example, a consumer might see a few ads and muse, “If Perry Como and Big Crosby trust Chesterfield, then it’s good enough for me!” In addition to providing health claims, movie stars were also glamorous and represented a walk of life attractive to consumers who were already invested in tabloids and the lives of the show business elite.

It wasn’t until 1964 that tobacco companies were banned from using testimonials from athletes, entertainers, and other famous personalities who might be appealing to consumers under 21 years of age.

Couples & Cast – img2464

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They say that two is always better than one, and this mentality was certainly true for the celebrity testimonials represented in this theme. When tobacco companies could land a celebrity couple in one ad, it could advertise its cigarettes to both males and females in a single blow. Oftentimes, the leading female and male stars of a movie would sit for a single tobacco ad in order to promote their upcoming production. For example, Patricia Morison and Cole Porter both praise Camels in one ad to debut their production “Kiss Me, Kate.” Other times, celebrity couples could promote their motion picture studio in general, rather than a specific film. For example, an ad for Robt. Burns Cigarillos features Humphrey Bogart and his wife, Lauren Bacall, and highlights their co-star positions at Santana Pictures.

Famous voices, in this case actors and actresses, had a particular appeal for cigarette advertisers. The emphasis on a healthy, clear voice in the celebrity’s line of work was an ideal avenue for portraying cigarettes as healthful, rather than harmful. The concept was that if a famous actor entrusted his voice and throat – his source of revenue – to a cigarette brand, then it must not be so bad! In addition to providing health claims, movie stars were also glamorous and represented a walk of life attractive to consumers who were already invested in tabloids and the lives of the show business elite.

It wasn’t until 1964 that tobacco companies were banned from using testimonials from athletes, entertainers, and other famous personalities who might be appealing to consumers under 21 years of age.

Champion Endorses – img2490

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Tobacco companies were especially fond of celebrity testimonials, enlisting hundreds upon hundreds of celebrities to endorse their tobacco products from the 1920s well into the 1960s. In these advertisements, movie stars, famous singers, athletes, and even socialites graced the pages of popular magazines, editorials, and newspapers printed across the country. It is interesting to note that a few of these celebrities cropped up in multiple tobacco advertisements, usually for a variety of companies.

In our collection, for example, we see Joan Crawford in ad for Old Gold (1930), Raleigh (1947), Chesterfield (1949), two for Camel (1951), two for Lucky Strike (1951), and even featured on a Raleigh matchbook! Similarly, Claudette Colbert endorsed Player’s Cigarettes (1924), Old Gold (1934, 1935), Lucky Strike (1937, 1938), and Chesterfield (1942, 1943, 1946, 1948). Other “champion” endorsers include Jack Web with three different brands, Barbara Stanquck with four brands, Carole Lombard with two, and Gary Cooper with three. Usually, the endorsements were decided by the actor’s movie studios, not by the actor’s preferences, explaining the seemingly fickle choices of these stars.

Famous voices, in this case female movie stars, had a particular appeal for cigarette advertisers. The emphasis on a healthy, clear voice in the movie star’s line of work was an ideal avenue for portraying cigarettes as healthful, rather than harmful. The concept was that if a famous actress entrusted her voice and throat – her source of revenue – to a cigarette brand, then it must not be so bad! In addition to providing health claims, movie stars were also glamorous and represented a walk of life attractive to consumers who were already invested in tabloids and the lives of the show business elite.

It wasn’t until 1964 that tobacco companies were banned from using testimonials from athletes, entertainers, and other famous personalities who might be appealing to consumers under 21 years of age.

Directors and Producers – img2570

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The 1920s and 1930s saw the heyday of celebrity endorsement, with celebrities hawking everything from soap and pantyhose to canned beans and cars. Tobacco companies were especially fond of celebrity testimonials, enlisting hundreds upon hundreds of celebrities to endorse their tobacco products well into the 1960s. In these advertisements, actors, famous singers, athletes, and even socialites graced the pages of popular magazines, editorials, and newspapers printed across the country.

Popular directors and producers did not escape the grasp of the tobacco companies. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, famous Broadway producers Florenz Ziegfeld, and George M. Cohan endorsing Lucky Strikes, along with popular Hollywood directors King Victor and Cecil B. de Mille. In the late 1940s, Philip Morris capitalized on the appeal of the director, while Winston jumped on the bandwagon in 1956 with its ads featuring photographers. The image of the handsome, seductive director persists in modern tobacco advertising, including the depiction of a director in a 2004 Camel ad.

Famous voices, in this case television stars, had a particular appeal for cigarette advertisers. The emphasis on a healthy, clear voice in the TV star’s line of work was an ideal avenue for portraying cigarettes as healthful, rather than harmful. The concept was that if a famous actress entrusted her voice and throat – her source of revenue – to a cigarette brand, then it must not be so bad! For example, a consumer might see an ad and muse, “If Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez trust Chesterfield, then it’s good enough for me.” In addition to providing health claims, television stars were also glamorous and represented a walk of life attractive to consumers who were already invested in tabloids and the lives of the Hollywood elite.

It wasn’t until 1964 that tobacco companies were banned from using testimonials from athletes, entertainers, and other famous personalities who might be appealing to consumers under 21 years of age.

Radio Stars – img2577

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The 1920s and 1930s saw the heyday of celebrity endorsement, with celebrities hawking everything from soap and pantyhose to canned beans and cars. Tobacco companies were especially fond of celebrity testimonials, enlisting hundreds upon hundreds of celebrities to endorse their tobacco products well into the 1960s. In these advertisements, actors, famous singers, athletes, and even socialites graced the pages of popular magazines, editorials, and newspapers printed across the country.

Famous voices, in this case radio stars, had a particular appeal for cigarette advertisers. The emphasis on a healthy, clear voice in the radio star’s line of work was an ideal avenue for portraying cigarettes as healthful, rather than harmful. The concept was that if a famous sportscaster, broadcast journalist, commentator, announcer or recording star trusted his voice and throat – his source of revenue – to a cigarette brand, then it must not be so bad!

It wasn’t until 1964 that tobacco companies were banned from using testimonials from athletes, entertainers, and other famous personalities who might be appealing to consumers under 21 years of age.

The 1920s and 1930s saw the heyday of celebrity endorsement, with celebrities hawking everything from soap and pantyhose to canned beans and cars. Tobacco companies were especially fond of celebrity testimonials, enlisting hundreds upon hundreds of celebrities to endorse their tobacco products well into the 1960s. In these advertisements, actors, famous singers, athletes, and even socialites graced the pages of popular magazines, editorials, and newspapers printed across the country.

Famous voices, in this case radio stars, had a particular appeal for cigarette advertisers. The emphasis on a healthy, clear voice in the radio star’s line of work was an ideal avenue for portraying cigarettes as healthful, rather than harmful. The concept was that if a famous sportscaster, broadcast journalist, commentator, announcer or recording star trusted his voice and throat – his source of revenue – to a cigarette brand, then it must not be so bad!

It wasn’t until 1964 that tobacco companies were banned from using testimonials from athletes, entertainers, and other famous personalities who might be appealing to consumers under 21 years of age.

The 1920s and 1930s saw the heyday of celebrity endorsement, with celebrities hawking everything from soap and pantyhose to canned beans and cars. Tobacco companies were especially fond of celebrity testimonials, enlisting hundreds upon hundreds of celebrities to endorse their tobacco products well into the 1960s. In these advertisements, actors, famous singers, athletes, and even socialites graced the pages of popular magazines, editorials, and newspapers printed across the country.

Famous voices, in this case radio stars, had a particular appeal for cigarette advertisers. The emphasis on a healthy, clear voice in the radio star’s line of work was an ideal avenue for portraying cigarettes as healthful, rather than harmful. The concept was that if a famous sportscaster, broadcast journalist, commentator, announcer or recording star trusted his voice and throat – his source of revenue – to a cigarette brand, then it must not be so bad!

It wasn’t until 1964 that tobacco companies were banned from using testimonials from athletes, entertainers, and other famous personalities who might be appealing to consumers under 21 years of age.

Broadway Stars – img2612

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Like Opera singers, Broadway stars had a particular appeal for cigarette advertisers. The emphasis on a healthy, clear voice in a Broadway star’s line of work was an ideal avenue for portraying cigarettes as healthful, rather than harmful. Broadway performers were particularly convincing, because if the star entrusted her voice and throat – her source of revenue – to a cigarette brand, then it seems impossible for the smoke to be irritating or dangerous. Lucky Strike and Camel made the most use of Broadway performers in their ads. In addition to providing health claims, movie stars were also glamorous and represented a walk of life attractive to consumers who were already invested in tabloids and the lives of the show business elite. It wasn’t until 1964 that tobacco companies were banned from using testimonials from athletes, entertainers, and other famous personalities who might be appealing to consumers under 21 years of age.

Newsman – img2624

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The 1920s and 1930s saw the heyday of celebrity endorsement, with celebrities hawking everything from soap and pantyhose to canned beans and cars. Tobacco companies were especially fond of celebrity testimonials, enlisting hundreds upon hundreds of celebrities to endorse their tobacco products well into the 1960s. In these advertisements, actors, famous singers, athletes, and even socialites graced the pages of popular magazines, editorials, and newspapers printed across the country.

Famous voices, in this case newsmen, had a particular appeal for cigarette advertisers. The emphasis on a healthy, clear voice in the broadcast journalist’s line of work was an ideal avenue for portraying cigarettes as healthful, rather than harmful. If Walter Winchell, for example, trusted his voice and throat – his source of revenue – to a cigarette brand, then it seems less irritating and dangerous. Newsmen also represent a more serious side of the celebrity industry, appealing to hardworking businessmen who may be less swayed by other celebrity endorsements.

Don't get your wind – img4497

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“They Don’t Get Your Wind” This marketing campaign from the mid 1930’s include quotes like, “A Cigarette so mild you can smoke all you want”, and “that’s what athletes say about Camels. And when a champion talks about condition, wind and healthy nerves, and real tobacco mildness, he knows what he’s talking about.” In the 1930’s it was popular for athletes and celebrities to endorse cigarettes. There was little research or regulation on the health effects from smoking.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was in a direct competition to be the top cigarette advertising company. Their competition was the well-known American Tobacco Company who manufactured its top brand, Lucky Strike. The move to have athletes endorse Camel cigarettes launched Camel to top. Lucky strike then moved their tactics to challenge the candy industry and introduced the, “Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet” Campaign. Camel had baseball players; football players and Olympic athletes endorse their products from 1930s to the late 1950s.

Ad: “Get a Lift With a Camel!,” Popular Science, October 1934, from, ModernMechanix.com, August 6, 2007.

Baseball – img4522

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The marriage of tobacco and baseball dates back to some of the sport’s earliest days. Before 1900, professional baseball was a sea of leagues popping up and then disappearing and dispute over disregarded player contracts. By the turn of the century professional baseball as we know today began to take shape, and tobacco had already entered the scene. Cigarette companies used cards with images of baseball players to stiffen their packs of loosely packed tobacco and thin paper wrappings as early as 1888. In a time when chewing tobacco was widely popular in the U.S., many players indulged in the same habit. While players and ball clubs would go on to advertise many forms of combustible tobacco, cigarettes and chewing tobacco stayed connected most closely with baseball.

In the 1910s, tobacco’s solidification in baseball grew greatly. Bull Durham smoking tobacco launched a revolutionary campaign in 1912, installing large bull bill-boards at almost every major league ballpark. Their promotion ran that any player to bat a ball to the bull would receive $50, or roughly $1200 in today’s money. The prominence of the bull signage and its association with what was becoming America’s pastime led to enormous profits for the company and perhaps the origin of the term “bullpen” to refer to the warm-up area for pitchers. Some of the baseball figures to take a stand against tobacco included Honus Wagner, a legendary player for the Pittsburg Pirates, Ty Cobb, Connie Mack, and Walter Johnson. Wagner, for his part, refused to have his image associated with tobacco-promoting baseball cards. Today, some historians question whether his intent was to help curb young children’s chances of smoking or more to punish the company for improperly compensating him for his image. His decision, nonetheless, made some 1911 Americans question tobacco, while others only more attracted due to the surrounding controversy. In addition, Cobb, Mack, and Johnson all spoke out against cigarettes or allowed their names to be used as part of testimonies collected in Henry Ford’s Case Against the Little White Slaver, published 1914. Cobb and Johnson were both raised to refrain from all forms of mind-altering substances. For their early years in the leagues, right around the time Ford’s book came out, they held true to these ideals and yet still appeared in tobacco ads. Cobb, outside what his ball club may have required of him, even appeared for a self-named brand of tobacco. Clearly, baseball and tobacco were early slated for a complicated and deep relationship.

As baseball’s popularity exploded at the advent of the live-ball era—around 1920—players like Babe Ruth became the idols of millions. Ruth, a hearty man of strength and precision, publicly smoked and drank while living an extravagant, expensive lifestyle. The image of a homerun-belting giant such as Ruth safely smoking cigar after cigar and appearing in numerous ads helped people feel more comfortable with smoking. If such a healthy and lovable character included tobacco in his public portrait, the risk of smoking appeared greatly mitigated. Shocked fans saw Ruth, gaunt and dying of throat cancer, when he returned to Yankee Stadium in 1947, a year before his death at age 53. Despite this clear sign of tobacco’s danger, ads continued to run. Ruth’s former teammate, Joe DiMaggio, appeared in Chesterfield ads a year later. DiMaggio—another public figure who shamelessly smoked cigarettes for millions to see—played a major role in American culture, too. (DiMaggio, also, later died of tobacco-related cancer.) With icons living large and dying painfully from these products, the advertising kept on.

In the mid-1950s, foreboding studies began to warn of the true effects of smoking tobacco. The scare surrounding these products led to tighter restrictions on advertising, such as the 1971 ban on television commercials for tobacco. Tobacco advertising executives needed an avenue to fall back on—a way to separate tobacco from the dark health effects spreading about their products. Advertisements that specifically spoke against the dangers tested poorly, as prospective buyers were simply reminded of the controversy. Instead, advertisers had to turn to focus on a subject that had nothing to do with the growing body of scientific evidence against them. In numbers, R.J. Reynolds and Phillip Morris bought up ad space in ballparks around the country: Houston’s Astrodome, the Phillies’ Veterans Stadium, the Mariner’s Kingdome, and the Angel’s Anaheim Stadium, to name a few. Fans’ typical experience involved seeing a giant Marlboro or Winston sign, conveniently placed above the scoreboard or exits. Without technically advertising on television, cigarette companies received significant ad time on television through these bill boards.

The cigarette scare also influenced baseball in another way—the second rise of smokeless tobacco (ST). ST, as cigarettes do, also poses serious health risks. The act of spitting the tobacco back out and the lack of smoke, however, made users feel safer. ST was so popular among some baseball players that they would keep a dip in when posing for baseball card pictures (signified by a bulge under the cheek or lower lip). Bill Tuttle, a ballplayer, almost always had a dip in on his cards. In 1993, he was diagnosed with oral cancer, and his disfiguring facial surgeries provided living proof of the effect of ST for players and fans to see. That same year, Minor League Baseball banned ST outright; Tuttle spent the next five years of his life campaigning against its use. The 90s also saw the fall of the Winston and Marlboro ads that had grown into the atmosphere of their respective stadiums for, in some cases, over two decades. The tide was turning for baseball to separate from tobacco.

Today, smoking and ST are waning in the public eye and in baseball. Smoking has been banned or heavily restricted in most major league ballparks. Ones with particularly loose restrictions include Marlins Park, the Mets’ Citi Field, and the Rangers’ Globe Life Park, though policies here will likely change in the next few years. The Tigers’ Comerica Park, for its part, has a cigar bar (aptly named the “Asylum Cigar Bar”), but strongly prohibits all other types of smoking, even inside the bar. On the other end of the tobacco spectrum, while Minor League Baseball has moved on from ST, the Majors lag behind. In 2014, Hall-of-Famer Tony Gwynn died of ST-related cancer at 54. This tragic event adds to the numerous chapters of baseball players plagued by tobacco, but may accelerate cause for a ban. Major League Baseball (MLB) has banned spitting and the visible sign of a tin of chew in uniforms when fans are present or during press interviews. One third of players, however, still chew tobacco, either straight, or by mixing it with gum, sunflower seeds, or other products to spit with less suspicion.

The collective bargaining of the players’ union currently blocks the MLB from a ban on ST, however some cities are making the decision themselves. San Francisco enacted a ban effective January 1st, 2016 that prohibits the use of ST anywhere in the city, including the Giants’ AT&T Park. Some players claim this ban will not prevent them from chewing; however, even if only a symbolic gesture, this measure carries great weight. Efforts such as these demonstrate a step toward the wellbeing of the millions of young fans, among others, who idolize ballplayers. On August 6th, 2015, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh called for a similar ban. Curt Schilling, a former Red Sox pitcher who used ST and survived the resultant mouth cancer, currently aids Walsh in the effort. With 15 percent of high-school males using ST, the nation waits to see who will bring what change to America’s game.

Olympics – img7857

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The Olympic Games are touted as the premiere international sporting event for amateur athletes. Founded in 1894, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) wanted to keep corporate advertisements from associating with the Games in the name of maintaining the spirit of amateurism. Despite this, companies found ways to create financial links with the Olympics.

The tobacco advertisement in the Games first appeared in the 1920 Olympics.1 Tobacco companies placed advertisements in the official program and would often feature Olympic athletes in advertising campaigns. The advertising campaigns promoted the idea that their brand of cigarettes allowed athletes to lead healthy lives. Tobacco advertising in the Olympic Games reached its peak in the 1970’s and ‘80’s.

Cigarette companies paid for advertisements in popular magazines leading up and following Olympic Games. The advertisements would feature popular athletes such as swimmer Buster Crabbe, tennis player Lester Stoefen, hurdler Forrest Towns. Some of these ads were in the form of comic strips, and cigarette companies would often include quotes from the athletes about one of their Olympic races or copy explaining how the athletes used cigarettes to be successful.

In the 1980’s, the U.S. Tobacco Company was the official sponsor for the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. Along with their sponsorship, attendees were given company branded memorabilia and giveaways, in the hopes of building a larger brand following. Tobacco companies maintained close relationships with the Games up until the Canadian National Olympic committee banned tobacco marketing in the 1988 Winter Olympics. The Games were now smoke-free, a movement stemming from the idea that products associated with the Games and promoted by Olympic athletes heavily influenced children.1

However, cigarette companies found ways to circumvent the ban. During the 1996 Games in Atlanta, tobacco marketing surrounded the Olympics despite being prohibited from sponsorship and access to the venue itself. Philip Morris ensured that it was one of the first to greet tourists entering Atlanta for the Centennial Olympic Games by funding the construction of eight glass-enclosed smoking rooms at the Atlanta airport.

Although the tobacco industry has since been generally absent from direct or indirect affiliation with the Olympic Games, there have still been instances in which tobacco advertising seeps in. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, there was much controversy regarding Chinese cigarette companies and Olympics themed special-edition products.1 Some athletes have also taken on their own corporate sponsorship with tobacco companies. Policies regarding maintaining a tobacco-free Games throughout has been an area of scrutiny among independent research groups.

In preparation for its 2020 Summer Olympics, Japan has passed legislation hoping to transform its public smoking policy. In a plan released in January 2018, the Japanese government pledged to ban smoking indoors in the hopes to align themselves with the Tobacco Free Initiative from the World Health Organization (WHO) and IOC. Japan is among the last countries to ban smoking in places like hospitals and restaurants.

However, controversy has followed the Japan Olympic Committee, concerning sports ties with Japan Tobacco Incorporated, one of the largest tobacco conglomerates in the world. Many teams in Japan sport the Japan Tobacco JTI logo, and the company runs the volleyball world cup and owns the men’s volleyball team JT Thunders. The World Health organization recommends that tobacco advertising, especially that with exposure to youth, be banned. The WHO notes the heavy correlation between youth oriented tobacco advertising and tobacco usage.2 Japan Tobacco spends about ¥20 billion a year on its marketing and public relations, so there exists continual worry that the tobacco giant has influence over newspapers, government policies, and international sports competition sponsorships.3

1. Lee, Kelly, et al. “Smoke Rings: Towards a Comprehensive Tobacco Free Policy for the Olympic Games.” PLOS ONE, 7 Aug. 2015, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0130091. Accessed 8 Aug. 2018.

2. WHO wants total ban on tobacco advertising.” World Health Organization, 30 May 2008, www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2008/pr17/en/. Accessed 20 Aug. 2018.

3. Brasor, Philip. “Media sidesteps calling Japan Tobacco out on advertising conflicts.” Japan Times [Tokyo]. Japantimes.co.jp, www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/01/14/national/media-national/media-sidesteps-calling-japan-tobacco-advertising-conflicts/#.W3xDkNhKjOQ. Accessed 21 Aug. 2018.

African American Athletes – img5012

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As civil rights efforts took hold in the U.S., blacks gained a foothold in national sports leagues, most notably Jackie Robinson entered the MLB in the late 1940s. At the same time, as noted in our collection's “Targeting African Americans” theme, tobacco companies began targeting black markets primarily through print advertisements in African American publications. Many of these ads used testimonials from famous black athletes to hone in on the black demographic. Indeed, Chesterfield used Jackie Robinson himself in a 1950 ad. Athletes were particularly desirable endorsers for cigarettes because they implied healthfulness, a concern for cigarette companies as smoking became widely associated with lung cancer in the 1950s.

Richard Pollay and colleagues compared the prevalence of endorsements from athletes in Ebony (a magazine with primarily black readership) to that in Life (a magazine with primarily white readership) from 1950-1965. Pollay noted that during this time frame, Ebony contained 5 times more endorsements from athletes than Life (1). He also noted that cigarette advertisements in Ebony during these years used exclusively black models, while the ads in Life used exclusively white models, which Pollay cites as “evidence of fully segmented and segregated advertising programs.”

1. Pollay, Richard W., Jug S. Lee and David Carter-Whitney. “Separate, but Not Equal: Racial Segmentation in Cigarette Advertising.” Journal of Advertising, Vol. 21, No. 1. March 1992: 45-57.

Mixed Races – img5028

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Although tobacco companies had been marketing their products to specific ethnic groups for decades, it wasn’t until late in the 20th century that they began “integrationist” advertising. Previously, tobacco ads placed in African American magazines featured strictly African American models, and those in mainstream magazines featured primarily white models. However, beginning in the 1980s and gaining ground in the early 2000s, tobacco companies began featuring groups of mixed ethnicities in both minority and mainstream (“general audience”) publications.

In 1979, in an internal document researching market strategies for More cigarettes, R.J. Reynolds generalized about “the new generation of blacks,” claiming that more than previous generations, “they are more comfortable with the notion of co-existing and working side-by-side with Whites” (1). Furthermore, the document reveals RJR’s primary marketing concern at the time: “A balance must be arrived at,” the document says, “between providing depicted situations and people reflective of Black self-pride and ethnocentrism – and at the same time, confirming the extent to which Blacks have become integrated into the ‘Establishment.’”

Lorillard came to the same conclusion in 2001 for their Newport brand, which has since used models of different ethnicities in single ads. The 2001 Lorillard document makes the following conclusion: “Newport should seek to incorporate more multi-ethnic visuals in the creative mix. Smokers reacted positively to visuals that included people from mixed ethnic groups. They indicated that they have diverse circles of friends and mixed ethnicity situations are their reality. The idea of mixed ethnicity couples however, was not as readily accepted. The multi-ethnic scenarios should include settings where multi-ethnic groups would naturally come together, such as parties or group events” (2). Thus, many of the couples in recent Newport ads are of the same ethnicity, but the larger “friend” groups are mixed.

Brown & Williamson similarly moved away from segregated advertising in the 1980s for its KOOL brand, but instead of using mixed race groups in ads, it utilized jazz music and music in general as “an idea or symbol that was truly Pan-Racial… an idea that transcended the color of a smoker’s skin” (3). In one internal document, B&W’s advertising agency explains, “The print media, due to segmentation, provide the option of 'segregated' brand communication (for example, see Salem campaigns). However, this approach was avoided since it encouraged a split personality, or dual image, for the brand. It was concluded that a split personality was not viable in an image-sensitive category. Further, we believe that Black smokers increasingly will 'see through' this approach and possibly resent what essentially amounts to a 'separate but equal' dual campaign strategy” (3). In a National Sales Meeting speech, a B&W exec explained their music-oriented approach: “That’s not advertising for Blacks or Whites or Hispanics, that’s advertising for everyone who likes music. And how many people do you know who don’t like music? […] Black smokers are very important to KOOL, as you well know, and we could, like Salem, create a separate ad campaign to run in Black publications… with Black models only. But why should we? We don’t have to do that, we’re going to own the world of music, where the subject of Black and White don’t matter because the only real issue is one of pleasure. Musical enjoyment…linked to smoking satisfaction” (4).

“General Background – Black Consumer Market Demographic Trend & Marketing Implications.” RJR. 31 Dec 1979. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/sup76b00

2. “Jacksonville and Pittsburgh one-on-one research findings/recommendations.” Lorillard. April 2001. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/sqa42i00

3. Cunningham & Walsh Advertising Agency. “Kool: The Revitalization of an Image.” B&W. 1 July 1981. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/leb91d00

4. Lewis, LR. “Speech for National Sales Meeting.” B&W. Oct 1981. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/crj40f00

Recent Black Ads – img5056

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While print advertising for tobacco products is now seen in few mainstream magazines in recent years, it is still very prevalent in Black magazines. Particularly, the Johnson Publishing Company, Inc., publishers of Ebony and Jet, has continued to be been a consistent partner with tobacco advertising, particularly for Lorillard’s Newport. An internal document prepared by Advertising Experti for Philip Morris in 1996 outlines the major Black magazines ideal for tobacco advertisements (1):

Ebony: “EBONY Magazine is a Black-oriented lifestyle general interest publication, dealing with contemporary topics.”

Essence: “ESSENCE is a magazine editorially geared to the upwardly mobile Black woman, described as being professional, well-educated, and affluent.”

Black Elegance: “BLACK ELEGANCE (BE) is a national lifestyle magazine for the contemporary, upscale Black woman 25-44 years of age. Its readership is depicted as achievers who seek quality in their careers and lifestyles. Jet: “As a newsweekly, JET provides the latest domestic and international information concerning newsmakers and news events.”

Upscale: “This magazine emerged as a publishing entity in August 1989. Its editorial fare combines celebrity profiles with articles that explores issues effecting the empowerment of African Americans.

Black Enterprise: ”BLACK ENTERPRISE Magazine is the premier business news source for African Americans.

Ebony Man: “It was created […] to serve the lifestyle needs of upwardly mobile Black men”

Class: “CLASS Magazine began publication in September 1979, servicing the Caribbean-American population segment, a Black consumer group not specifically addressed by other Black-oriented national magazines.”

Vibe: “VIBE magazine speaks to a generation of young men and women whose lifestyles resists categorization along conventional lines of race, class or gender. From an inclusive, multicultural prospective. VIBE covers a myriad of subjects judged pertinent to the lifestyle of young adults.”

Emerge: “EMERGE covers issues, ideas and events from a Black perspective.”

1. Advertising Experti. “Benson & Hedges African American Magazine Synopsis.” Philip Morris. 16 Jan 1996. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/oug59h00:

Early Black Ads – img6722

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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. Whereas there was minor advertising in weekly African Americans newspapers prior to the war, scholars cite a number of post-war changes as the sources for the surge in market expansion, mainly the growth in urban migration and the steadily increasing incomes of African Americans in the 1940s (1). One scholar explains that “between 1920 and 1943, the annual income of African Americans increased threefold, from $3 billion to more than $10 billion,” making the population an increasingly appealing demographic for the tobacco industry (2). Indeed, advertising and marketing magazines published many articles at the time describing the profitable “emerging Negro market.” One such article from 1944, for example, was titled, “The American Negro—An ‘Export’ Market at Home” (3). A subsequent article printed a year later provided a table depicting “How Negroes Spent Their Incomes, 1920-1943 (4). The table revealed that the amount of money African Americans spent on tobacco products increased six-fold from 1920 to 1943.

Perhaps the catalyzing force in the tobacco industry’s foray into African American targeting came in the form of emerging advertising avenues that could be used to target African American populations without alienating whites; the 1940s saw the introduction of a number of glossy monthly magazines including Negro Digest (1942, renamed Black World), Ebony (1945) and Negro Achievements (1947, renamed Sepia). These mass-media publications were much more attractive to advertisers than the African American daily newspapers of the pre-war era, with glossy pages and a larger national distribution. The magazines, because they were intended for a purely African American audience, also provided advertisers with an opportunity to run ads featuring African American models away from the eyes of white consumers.

Internal tobacco industry documents reveal the massive development of the African American market in the 1940s and its impact on the tobacco industry. Public Relations firms specializing in targeting African American populations sent materials to the major tobacco companies hoping to secure business partnerships. One PR firm, in correspondence with RJ Reynolds in 1949, reminded the company that, “The negro market is a big one. I sincerely hope that I may have the opportunity [sic] of helping to further cultivate it for you” (5).

The major tobacco companies all made inroads on the “Negro market” in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Indeed, before the invent of such avenues, in the first decades of the twentieth century, the only ads featuring African Americans were racist advertisements using black caricatures, a striking contrast to the depictions seen in African American publications from the late 1940s to early 1950s, which featured African American models as professionals, students, and famous athletes. An advertising trade magazine, Printer’s Ink, described how, in 1947, the American Tobacco Company “entered the Negro market with a series of Famous Firsts about Negroes that were eye-openers to many in advertising” (6). The article describes the campaign content as telling “the history of some of the outstanding achievements of the Negroes,” most of which, according to the article, “were little known to students of the race.” Examples of these spotlights included Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, and “some of the modern Negro notables.” The Printer’s Ink article explains that the campaign intends to market cigarettes to African Americans by demonstrating “to the Negro that his race has accomplished many things.”

Tobacco advertising methods targeting African Americans shifted in the late 1950s, 60s, and 70s with the rise of the Civil Rights movement, and just as there was economic and market pressure in the 1940s to increase marketing efforts to African Americans, the 1970s and 1980s sparked resurgence in these efforts. An R.J. Reynolds document from 1969, for example, marks an increase in “Negro purchasing power” from 3 billion in 1940 to 32 billion in 1970. At this point, in order to refocus attention on the African American population and strengthen their ties to the community, tobacco companies worked on promotional campaigns, which funded key organizations such as the NAACP, the National Urban League, and the United Negro College Fund. An internal Brown & Williamson document declares that the “relatively small and often tight knit community can work to B&W’s marketing advantage if exploited properly. Peer pressure plays a more important role in many phases of life in the minority community. Therefore, dominance of the market place and the community environment is necessary to successfully increase sales there” (7).

As the industry began sponsoring African American institutions and charities, they also shifted their print advertising techniques to reflect the changing political climate. Increasingly, models wearing “naturals” or Afros began popping up in ads for Newport, L&M, Kent, Kool, and many more. A Kent ad from 1971 shows a man and a woman, both wearing Afros, talking on the phone together and smoking cigarettes, the slogan “Rap’n Kent” underneath.

One scholar describes advertisements from the early 1960s as portraying a “racially desegregated society in which the discerning tastes and values of black consumers were highlighted” (3). But she notes a shift with the emergence of Black Power, in which ads were able to latch onto the Black Nationalism movement while completely avoiding the political ideology therein. Instead, the ads worked at “selling soul,” and “invoked themes of black pride, solidarity, and “soul style.” Indeed, a Viceroy ad campaign from 1970 demonstrates a carefully crafted combination of both approaches. One ad from the campaign shows a stylish couple – the man in a suit and the woman in a yellow mod mini-dress – shopping at an outdoor art boutique while smoking. The caption reads, “Their collection? It’s fun to build on. Their apartment looks like a gallery. With everything from Neo-Afro realism to their child’s finger painting. Their cigarettes? Viceroy. They won’t settle for anything less. It’s a matter of taste.” This ad exemplifies the industry’s blatant attempts at exploiting Black Nationalism. An internal Brown & Williamson document from 1969 reveals that tobacco companies were indeed using this theme to market cigarettes: “The desire for blackness, or soul, as part of solving their identity crisis is something that must be understood. A sense of identity is being accentuated because today, as never before, Negroes are taking pride in themselves” (8). Viceroy, like many of the other leading brands, also capitalized on this “soul” movement. Another ad from the same series features four African Americans at a nightclub enjoying drinks and cigarettes while listening to a musician. White people sit in the background enjoying the same music. The caption for this ad reads, “Their sounds? They like ‘em heavy. And with soul. The music not only has to say something. It has to move.”

At this time, menthols also emerged as a cigarette targeting African-Americans. Whereas in the past, menthol cigarettes had been advertised to the general population as an occasional cigarette to smoke when sick or suffering from smoker’s cough, the 1960s brought along the beginnings of a different image for the menthol cigarette. In 1969 alone, Lorillard increased its “Negro market budget” by 87% over 1968 due to the introduction of its menthol cigarette, Newport, to the African American market. Likewise, British American Tobacco doubled their budget from 1968 to 1969 in order to increase African-American radio station coverage for its menthol cigarette, Kool, as well as for Viceroy, which targeted African American stations (8). Today, over 70% of African-American smokers smoke menthols as opposed to only 35% of white smokers (9).

1. Walker, Susannah. “Black Dollar Power:” Susannah Walker. (University of Chicago Press, Jul 15, 2009 )

2. Walker, Susannah. “Style & Status: Selling Beauty to African American Women, 1920-1975”

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

4 Sullivan, David J. “How Negroes Spent Their Incomes, 1920-1943.” Sales Management. 15 June 1945.

5. “Thank You Very Much For Your Letter of the 23rd.” RJ Reynolds. 31 March 1949. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/bwz79d00

6. “—No Title—.” American Tobacco. 26 Nov 1948. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/vaj41a00

7. “Discussion Paper: Total Minority Marketing Plan,” 7 Sept 1984. Http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/dmf41f00

8. “A Study of Ethnic Markets.” R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Sept 1969. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/paq76b00

9. Gardiner, Phillip S. “The African Americanization of menthol cigarette use in the United States.” Nicotine & Tobacco Research Vol.6 Supp. 1. Feb 2004.

Black Musicians – img6854

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Although tobacco companies repeatedly exploit music in brand advertising and promotion to appeal to youth, perhaps the KOOL brand has been most relentless in its adoption of music, and jazz in particular, in its advertising and promotional techniques. In 1975, KOOL began sponsoring jazz festivals to target African American consumers. By 1980, KOOL industry documents described KOOL Jazz Festivals as “the premier events in Black soul music,” and cites the attending audience as “90% Black” (http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ofn14f00). The series grew to 22 cities when in 1986 B&W decided to downsize to 3 cities and focus on other musical avenues like “KOOL Country Shindig” due to “growing concern that the more successful the [Jazz] Festivals became, the blacker the [Kool brand] image would become” (1).

Although B&W may have been primarily “using the events to offset Black media availability deficiencies” (1), the company also realized that jazz music and music in general could appeal to other demographics as well, as a sort of added bonus. Internal documents from 1981 cited music as “an idea or symbol that was truly Pan-Racial… an idea that transcended the color of a smoker’s skin” (2). In describing a new print ad technique depicting solo musicians of varying ethnicities, B&W’s advertising agency explains, “The print media, due to segmentation, provide the option of 'segregated' brand communication (for example, see Salem campaigns). However, this approach was avoided since it encouraged a split personality, or dual image, for the brand […] Further, we believe that Black smokers increasingly will 'see through' this approach and possibly resent what essentially amounts to a 'separate but equal' dual campaign strategy” (2). In a National Sales Meeting speech, a B&W exec explained their music-oriented approach: “That’s not advertising for Blacks or Whites or Hispanics, that’s advertising for everyone who likes music. And how many people do you know who don’t like music? […] Black smokers are very important to KOOL, as you well know, and we could, like Salem, create a separate ad campaign to run in Black publications… with Black models only. But why should we? We don’t have to do that, we’re going to own the world of music, where the subject of Black and White don’t matter because the only real issue is one of pleasure. Musical enjoyment…linked to smoking satisfaction” (3).

Still, KOOL continues its targeting of young black consumers through the exploitation of popular music. B&W’s “B KOOL” campaign of 1998 included a series of “House of Menthol” promotions, reminiscent of the famous “House of Blues.” The House of Menthol series included KOOL MIXX, nightclub events featuring Disc Jockey (DJ) and Emcee (MC) freestyle rap competitions. In advertising KOOL Milds, B&W positioned the brand as “Groovin’: High Notes, Tasty Beats, and a Smooth Vibe. You’re right, that sounds just like the flavor of KOOL Milds” (4).

By 2004, the KOOL MIXX promotion included limited edition cigarette pack art, meant to “Celebrate the Soundtrack to the Streets.” One advertisement for the special limited edition packs claimed that “DJs are the Masters of Hip Hop like KOOL is the Master of Menthol. KOOL MIXX Special Edition Packs are our mark of respect for these Hip Hop Players.” This national release of limited edition KOOL MIXX packs caught the attention of regulators, who filed lawsuits against B&W asserting that the KOOL MIXX campaign was in violation of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) because it explicitly targeted black youth. The lawsuit was picked up by R.J. Reynolds when they acquired B&W, and RJR agreed to a settlement which limited (but did not forbid) future KOOL MIXX promotions and required B&W to shell out $1.46 million toward youth smoking prevention and cessation in minority communities previously targeted by the campaign (5). Thereafter, B&W maintained the KOOL MIXX promotion in its limited form and skirted the intent of the regulation by formulating an entirely new music promotion with similar appeal. In 2004, B&W released the KOOL Nu Jazz Festival which toured in Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Detroit, and was “meant to communicate the evolution of music” (5). An internal document explains that the Festival was “not just about jazz – it’s about R&B, Neo-Soul, Funk, Jazz, and how each genre of music led to the next” (6). The series included 27 concert events and 20 after parties. KOOL Nu Jazz artists included contemporary hip-hop, R&B, and soul artists including Erykah Badu, The Roots, and Big Boi of Outkast. This expanded in 2005 and 2006 to be “The New Jazz Philosophy Tour,” including John Legend, Common, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes and Blackalicious (7,8).

1. Broecker, BL. “Umbrella Music Strategy.” B&W. 16 July 1981. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/tir40f00

2. Cunningham & Walsh Advertising Agency. “Kool: The Revitalization of an Image.” B&W. 1 July 1981. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/leb91d00

3. Lewis, LR. “Speech for National Sales Meeting.” B&W. Oct 1981. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/crj40f00

4. “KOOL. TPUSA UPDATE.” RJ Reynolds. 2004. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/zpl77a00

5. “Company News; Reynolds Settles Suits in 3 States Over Cigarette Ads.” The New York Times. 7 Oct. 2004. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE1D9173BF934A35753C1A9629C8B63

6. RJR. “The Kool Nu Jazz Festival Adult Smoker Engagement Training Program.” RJR. 2004. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/wdd87h00

7. “The New Jazz Philosophy Tour 2005” RJ Reynolds. 16 June 2005. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/wwr27a00

8. “The New Jazz Philosophy Tour 2006” RJ Reynolds. 2006. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/zpl77a00

Winston Blaxsploitation – img8220

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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. Whereas there was minor advertising in weekly African Americans newspapers prior to the war, scholars cite a number of post-war changes as the sources for the surge in market expansion, mainly the growth in urban migration and the steadily increasing incomes of African Americans in the 1940s (1). One scholar explains that “between 1920 and 1943, the annual income of African Americans increased threefold, from $3 billion to more than $10 billion,” making the population an increasingly appealing demographic for the tobacco industry (2). Indeed, advertising and marketing magazines published many articles at the time describing the profitable “emerging Negro market.” One such article from 1944, for example, was titled, “The American Negro—An ‘Export’ Market at Home” (3). A subsequent article printed a year later provided a table depicting “How Negroes Spent Their Incomes, 1920-1943 (4). The table revealed that the amount of money African Americans spent on tobacco products increased six-fold from 1920 to 1943.

Perhaps the catalyzing force in the tobacco industry’s foray into African American targeting came in the form of emerging advertising avenues that could be used to target African American populations without alienating whites; the 1940s saw the introduction of a number of glossy monthly magazines including Negro Digest (1942, renamed Black World), Ebony (1945) and Negro Achievements (1947, renamed Sepia). These mass-media publications were much more attractive to advertisers than the African American daily newspapers of the pre-war era, with glossy pages and a larger national distribution. The magazines, because they were intended for a purely African American audience, also provided advertisers with an opportunity to run ads featuring African American models away from the eyes of white consumers.

Virginia Slims Black – img8242

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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.

Newport Pleasures – img10991

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When menthol cigarettes were first brought to market, they were advertised to the general population as an occasional cigarette to smoke when sick or suffering from smoker’s cough. However, the 1960s brought along the beginnings of a different image for the menthol cigarette. In 1969 alone, Lorillard increased its “Negro market budget” by 87% over 1968 due to increased efforts marketing its menthol cigarette, Newport, to the African American market. Likewise, British American Tobacco doubled their budget from 1968 to 1969 in order to increase African-American radio station coverage for its menthol cigarette, Kool (1). Government surveys in 2011 revealed that menthol cigarettes dominate 30% of the overall market, and over 80% of black smokers prefer menthol as opposed to 22% of non-Hispanic white smokers (2).

Recent menthol ads are clearly marketed toward a younger, urban demographic. Many of the ads feature models of a variety of ethnicities, and African Americans are particularly targeted. Recent Salem ads from the 2000s feature the slogan, “Stir the senses,” and each ad depicts a model smoking in green, mentholated ecstasy. Other Salem ads from the 2000s reveal clear youth targeting through a risk-taking appeal. For example, one of the ads presents an “underground” party, another presents a couple with an intertwining, extreme tattoo, and a third presents a scantily clad woman riding on the back of a man’s motorcycle – all in urban settings.

Kool’s advertisements from 2005 used the slogan “Be True,” which urged consumers to not only be true to themselves, but also to be true and loyal to the brand. Accompanying the “Be True” slogan was a variety of phrases such as “Be Passionate,” “Be Original,” “Be Smooth,” and “Be Bold,” all of which appeal to adolescents and young adults trying to “find themselves” and develop a sense of self. The “Be True” ads largely feature musicians, ranging from guitar players to disc jockeys, and their ethnicities are also noticeably diverse. In our collection, Asians, African Americans, and Caucasians are all represented in the “Be True” ad campaign. Other Kool campaigns from the 2000s, like “House of Menthol,” are more transparently urban-oriented, featuring boom boxes, speaker systems, microphones, graffiti, or skyscrapers. A subset of these ads features the “Kool Mixx” which claims to “celebrate the soundtrack to the streets” through limited edition cigarette packs. Urban youth were clearly a priority.

1. “A Study of Ethnic Markets.” R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Sept 1969. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/paq76b00

2. Wilson, Duff. “Advisory Panel urges F.D.A. to re-examine menthol in cigarettes.” The New York Times. 18 March 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/business/19tobacco.html

When menthol cigarettes were first brought to market, they were advertised to the general population as an occasional cigarette to smoke when sick or suffering from smoker’s cough. However, the 1960s brought along the beginnings of a different image for the menthol cigarette. In 1969 alone, Lorillard increased its “Negro market budget” by 87% over 1968 due to increased efforts marketing its menthol cigarette, Newport, to the African American market. Likewise, British American Tobacco doubled their budget from 1968 to 1969 in order to increase African-American radio station coverage for its menthol cigarette, Kool (1). Government surveys in 2011 revealed that menthol cigarettes dominate 30% of the overall market, and over 80% of black smokers prefer menthol as opposed to 22% of non-Hispanic white smokers (2).

Recent menthol ads are clearly marketed toward a younger, urban demographic. Many of the ads feature models of a variety of ethnicities, and African Americans are particularly targeted. Recent Salem ads from the 2000s feature the slogan, “Stir the senses,” and each ad depicts a model smoking in green, mentholated ecstasy. Other Salem ads from the 2000s reveal clear youth targeting through a risk-taking appeal. For example, one of the ads presents an “underground” party, another presents a couple with an intertwining, extreme tattoo, and a third presents a scantily clad woman riding on the back of a man’s motorcycle – all in urban settings.

Kool’s advertisements from 2005 used the slogan “Be True,” which urged consumers to not only be true to themselves, but also to be true and loyal to the brand. Accompanying the “Be True” slogan was a variety of phrases such as “Be Passionate,” “Be Original,” “Be Smooth,” and “Be Bold,” all of which appeal to adolescents and young adults trying to “find themselves” and develop a sense of self. The “Be True” ads largely feature musicians, ranging from guitar players to disc jockeys, and their ethnicities are also noticeably diverse. In our collection, Asians, African Americans, and Caucasians are all represented in the “Be True” ad campaign. Other Kool campaigns from the 2000s, like “House of Menthol,” are more transparently urban-oriented, featuring boom boxes, speaker systems, microphones, graffiti, or skyscrapers. A subset of these ads features the “Kool Mixx” which claims to “celebrate the soundtrack to the streets” through limited edition cigarette packs. Urban youth were clearly a priority.

1. “A Study of Ethnic Markets.” R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Sept 1969. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/paq76b00

2. Wilson, Duff. “Advisory Panel urges F.D.A. to re-examine menthol in cigarettes.” The New York Times. 18 March 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/business/19tobacco.html

When menthol cigarettes were first brought to market, they were advertised to the general population as an occasional cigarette to smoke when sick or suffering from smoker’s cough. However, the 1960s brought along the beginnings of a different image for the menthol cigarette. In 1969 alone, Lorillard increased its “Negro market budget” by 87% over 1968 due to increased efforts marketing its menthol cigarette, Newport, to the African American market. Likewise, British American Tobacco doubled their budget from 1968 to 1969 in order to increase African-American radio station coverage for its menthol cigarette, Kool (1). Government surveys in 2011 revealed that menthol cigarettes dominate 30% of the overall market, and over 80% of black smokers prefer menthol as opposed to 22% of non-Hispanic white smokers (2).

Recent menthol ads are clearly marketed toward a younger, urban demographic. Many of the ads feature models of a variety of ethnicities, and African Americans are particularly targeted. Recent Salem ads from the 2000s feature the slogan, “Stir the senses,” and each ad depicts a model smoking in green, mentholated ecstasy. Other Salem ads from the 2000s reveal clear youth targeting through a risk-taking appeal. For example, one of the ads presents an “underground” party, another presents a couple with an intertwining, extreme tattoo, and a third presents a scantily clad woman riding on the back of a man’s motorcycle – all in urban settings.

Kool’s advertisements from 2005 used the slogan “Be True,” which urged consumers to not only be true to themselves, but also to be true and loyal to the brand. Accompanying the “Be True” slogan was a variety of phrases such as “Be Passionate,” “Be Original,” “Be Smooth,” and “Be Bold,” all of which appeal to adolescents and young adults trying to “find themselves” and develop a sense of self. The “Be True” ads largely feature musicians, ranging from guitar players to disc jockeys, and their ethnicities are also noticeably diverse. In our collection, Asians, African Americans, and Caucasians are all represented in the “Be True” ad campaign. Other Kool campaigns from the 2000s, like “House of Menthol,” are more transparently urban-oriented, featuring boom boxes, speaker systems, microphones, graffiti, or skyscrapers. A subset of these ads features the “Kool Mixx” which claims to “celebrate the soundtrack to the streets” through limited edition cigarette packs. Urban youth were clearly a priority.

1. “A Study of Ethnic Markets.” R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Sept 1969. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/paq76b00

2. Wilson, Duff. “Advisory Panel urges F.D.A. to re-examine menthol in cigarettes.” The New York Times. 18 March 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/business/19tobacco.html

Racist Ads – img11187

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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.

Targeting Black Women – img22355

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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.

British Recent – img6991

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In 1949, on the heels of Lucky Strike’s 1931 ad campaign, “Do You Inhale?” and Philip Morris’ 1942 campaign, “Inhale? Sure, all smokers do,” P. Lorillard released a campaign for Embassy urging smokers to “Inhale [Embassy] to your heart’s content!” Lorillard claimed that Embassy’s extra length provides “extra protection.” The faulty concept was that because the cigarette was longer, it was able to better filter out toxins, since it took more time for the smoke to reach the smoker’s throat due to the long length through which it had to travel. In 1950, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigators had decided that king-size cigarettes, like Embassy, contained “more tobacco and therefore more harmful substances” than are found in an ordinary cigarette.

Lorillard’s particular choice of cliché, “to your heart’s content,” was misleading at best . The phrase was meant to impart a sense of happiness and healthfulness. Of course, inhaling would not have made anyone’s heart content; Instead, smoking has been recognized as a major cause of coronary artery disease, responsible for an estimated 20% of deaths from heart disease in the United States. Most ironically in the context of this advertisement campaign, a smokers’ risk of developing heart disease is thought to greatly increase as his or her cigarette intake increases.

Snus – ing5871

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Camel snus is the market leader among snus products in the US.1 Snus is a form of chewing tobacco that is placed between the lip and the gum. The tobacco is pasteurized and not fermented. It contains less moisture than moist snuff and does not require the use to spit it out.2

The Camel snus ads shifted the focus from traditional smokeless tobacco ads (i.e. blue collar workers) to urban sophisticates.3 Examples of the advertisements include ads with messages such as “hunting-friendly; fishing-friendly” and “haven’t seen a deer in hours-friendly.” The ads also subliminally suggested that individuals could use snus where smoking is restricted (e.g., freedom from smokers, enjoy taxicabs, subways, and bar-hopping, NYC smokers enjoy freedom without the flame.)

In 2009, Camel introduced a new series of snus ads with the slogan “Break Free.” Examples of such ads are“before, during, and after boldly go everywhere; one size should never fit all.” The break free ads were ambiguous in their message. A content analysis of the Camel Snus break free campaign suggested that some of the messages could be taken to refer to a change in use of smokeless tobacco while other messages could be a call for an adolescent to act independently from parents or from the mainstream youth or adult population.” For instance, some adolescents may readily relate to the rebellious tone of advertisements, such as “Keep making noise” or “Be hear not hearded.”3

1. CSP daily. (2016). Where the gains are. Available at http://www.cspdailynews.com/category-data/cmh/tobacco/tobacco-smokeless-2016
2. Winston-Salem Journal. (2013). R.J. Reynolds unveils larger pouch for Camel Snus. Available at http://www.journalnow.com/business/business_news/local/r-j-reynolds-unveils-larger-pouch-for-camel-snus/article_6b32ac68-1431-11e3-b6c1-0019bb30f31a.html
3. Timberlake, David S., et al. “A content analysis of Camel Snus advertisements in print media.” Nicotine & Tobacco Research (2011): ntr020.

Papers – ing7838

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The first commercial rolling papers were produced in 1660 by the Lacroix family after Frenchman Lacroix allegedly traded a bottle of Champagne for rolling papers that French soldiers were transporting from Spain; following that, in the year 1736, the Lacroix Rolling Paper company was founded.1

Today, rolling paper is made from a variety of materials, including wood pulp, rice-based paper, hemp (e.g. pure hemp papers by Joker), flax seed (e.g. white cigarette papers by Chesterfield), and other plant-based materials.2 These products are often advertised for possessing certain characteristics like “slow burning” (e.g. King size Joker), a wide selection of sizes (e.g. Mucha Job cigarette paper), and a “Do-it-yourself” capability (e.g. Job’s Adams Apple). Additionally, many of them employ similar marketing strategies as do cigarette packages, featuring celebrities like Bob Marley, sex appeal, elegant type print, and makeshift paintings. In fact, the evolution of these cigarette paper advertisements can be seen through several motifs including its artistic modes and use of female figures. For example, in the first two Mucha Job advertisements, the women painted are done so in the Classical Art Nouveau style popular of the 1890’s, a style of international art that employs decorative and architectural aspects; markedly, no written text is apparent on the prints. Overtime, however, the prints illustrate women in more dynamic colors, like in the 1897 Vintage print with a woman in yellow and white stripes; by the mid-to-late 1900’s, it became commonplace for cigarette paper ads to feature images of real female models posing with cigarettes and in sexually suggestive manners, instead of merely depicted them in hand drawings and paintings. Advertisements also focused on celebrities, a clean style, and other features like brand mascots.

1. The History of Rolling Papers. (2017). Rolling Paper Depot. Retrieved June 2, 2017, from https://www.rollingpaperdepot.com/pages/The-History-of-Rolling-Papers.
2. The Best Materials for Rolling Papers. (2017). Rolling Paper Depot. Retrieved June 2, 2017, from https://www.rollingpaperdepot.com/pages/The-Best-Materials-for-Rolling-Papers.

Growers – img33968

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Regulation of marijuana farming varies by state and county, with some allowing a certain number of plants, some allowing as many as one needs for personal use, and individual counties banning growth altogether. The state with the largest amount of marijuana production is California, with over 3 times the amount of growing of the next largest states, Tennessee and Kentucky. To parallel this growth in interest, magazines such as “High Times” have turned their attention towards articles and ads that promote the cannabis growing subculture. In addition, hundreds of websites and books, like The Cannabis Grow Bible, are available with guides on how to start growing.

Advertisements targeted towards growers are generally either selling specific seeds so that users can grow their favorite strain at home or selling more general agriculture appliances, like fertilizers, lighting systems for indoor growth, hydroponics, and more. Marijuana seeds can be purchased at most dispensaries, and at seed banks. Buzzwords used in seed advertisements are different than those used in typical cannabis ads. Key words include “feminized, “autoflowering,” and “high yield,” which refer to the reliability and outcome of the seed growth rather than the quality of the cannabis.

https://www.cropkingseeds.com/why-not-buy-marijuana-seeds-from-your-local-dispensaries/
https://www.drugscience.org/Archive/bcr2/domstprod.html
https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/33-feminized-cannabis-seeds

Cigars – ing5712

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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!”

Cigarillos – ing14494

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The mid 1960’s saw an uptick in the little cigars market. These smaller cigars included flavors apart from tobacco(e.g., cherry, were milder than traditional cigars, and found a market among women. 1

Many of the advertisements in this section emphasize the mildness of the cigar and are targeted to women. In this section, you will come across a series of Tiparillo advertisements. In 1966, Tiparillo launched an advertising series “Should a gentleman offer a Tiparillo to a lady?” While these advertisements were targeted at women, the ads focused more on female acceptance of cigars than use of the product. None of the women in the advertisement are actually seen using the product. A decade later, Tiparillo ran another advertising campaign, this one focused on female use of the product. In this series of advertisements for Tiparillo, the text suggest that times have changed as women have started to enjoy smoking the mild tasting cigar. Another brand, Wolf Brother’s Cherry Little Cigar even had a line in its advertising copy, “She’ll like them too.”

In 1971, RJR introduced its first little cigar, Winchester, which quickly became the largest selling brand of little cigars. The cigars were of the size and shape of cigarettes and contained a “filter tip” that “could easily be inhaled.” In one of its advertisements, a woman with a cowboy hat, her hair pulled around her face to create a mustache, is holding a Winchester cigar. The advertising text suggests that smoking the mild cigar is masculine.

Tobacco industry documents show that tobacco companies used flavors to mask the harshness of natural tobacco and target adolescents. In 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration prohibited the use of characterizing flavors (e.g., cherry, honey) except for mint in cigarettes.2 However, the use of such flavors in cigars, cigarillos and little cigars were not banned by the FDA. The availability of flavors among little cigars and their attractive pricing are making these cigars attractive to teenagers. In 2014, 63.5% of middle and high school students surveyed reported smoking a flavored mini cigar.3

1. Kostygina G, Glantz SA, Ling PM. Tobacco industry use of flavours to recruit new users of little cigars and cigarillos. Tob Con. 2016; 5:66–74.
2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Press Announcement: Candy and Fruit Flavored Cigarettes Now Illegal in United States; Step is First Under New Tobacco Law. Published September 22, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm183211.htm.

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking & Tobacco Use: Cigars. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/tobacco_industry/cigars/.

Sweet Cigars – ing11077

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There are different types of cigars available in the US- large cigars, cigarillos, and little cigars. Cigarillos are short and narrow cigars that are manufactured in a plethora of flavors ( e.g., peach, mango, cherry, grape, blueberry, wine, & white wine) that are attractively packaged and named to appeal to youth.

In 2009, the Food and Drug Administration banned the use of characterizing flavors, except for menthol, in cigarettes.1 However, the ban did not extend to other flavored tobacco products including mini cigars and cigarillos. Declines in cigarette consumption were undermined by increases in the use of flavored tobacco products.2

A recent study found alcohol flavors being marketed by 88 unique cigar & cigarillo brands. The major 5 tobacco companies (Imperial Tobacco, Philip Morris, Swedish Match, Scandinavian Tobacco Group and Swisher International) produce 15 brands of flavored cigars & cigarillos.2 The use of flavors increases the appeal of the tobacco product by decreasing the harsh taste of tobacco thereby making it easier for an individual to initiate with the product.3

Swisher, Inc., a leading manufacturer of cigarillos, offers a variety of chocolate, strawberry, peach, grape, and other flavored little cigars under the name “Swisher Sweets.” Phillies Cigarillos, another brand, also comes in a number of flavors. At one time, the brand even had a flavor called “Sugarillos” for “when sweet isn't sweet enough.” 4

With their colorful packages and store placement near candy, studies have shown that kids often mistake the shiny packages for candy. Apart from attractive flavors and names, cigar companies target youth through attractive pricing and packaging. Swisher Sweets often come in packages of two sticks for 99 cents, an attractive price for adolescents with limited discretionary funds. Among all flavored cigars, Swisher Sweets accounted for a preponderance of unit sales (52.6 million unit sales, 77.8% of total).4

References:

1. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Regulations restricting the sale and distribution of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to protect children and adolescents. Final Rule Fed Regist 2010;75:13225–3
2. Kostygina G, Glantz SA, Ling PM. Tobacco industry use of flavours to recruit new users of little cigars and cigarillos. Tob Con. 2016; 5:66–74.
3. Jackler RK, VanWinkle CK, Bumanlag IM, Ramamurthi D. (2017) Alcohol-Flavored Tobacco Products. Tob Con. [In print]
4. American Cancer Society.(2008) Big tobacco's guinea pigs: how an unregulated industry experiments on america's kids and consumers. Retrieved from https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/xkgm0222
5. CSP Daily News (April 15. 2016). Cigarette Convenience Store Sales Data from Year-End 2015. Retrieved from : http://www.cspdailynews.com/category-data/cmh/tobacco/tobacco-cigars-2016. Accessed on September 1, 2016.

Lady's Cigars – ing0784

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When one thinks of a cigar, one doesn’t usually think of a woman. In fact, cigarettes were originally created as a woman’s version of a cigar, since cigars were considered completely unladylike. Tobacco companies stretched the boundaries of advertisements with this series of ads targeting women or using the feminine mystique in selling their cigar products. Cigar ads featuring women are usually highly sexualized or romanticized, or speak to women’s liberation movements. Generally, they objectify women in order to advertise cigars to men.

Cigarette Holders – ing5822

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Old Hollywood movies often make use of cigarette holders to connote an aura of glamour for certain characters, and indeed, this glamorous connotation has been extended into modern times with the popular 1960s Disney adaptation of “101 Dalmations” (Cruella de Vil’s cigarette holder is absolutely part of her character). An ad from 1976 for Gilette fashion Cricket lighters features the slogan “Far Out Fire” next to the image of a woman lighting her cigarette, resting on its own cigarette holder. Interestingly, these holders were not just for show. Our ad collection reveals their use as filters and health protectants for worried smokers. De-Nicotea, for example, boasts that their filter “makes ANY cigarette less irritating!” while the Klickit cigarette holder claimed it could “do away with scratchy throat.” The early “Tobacco Yellow” cigarette holder was “guaranteed to remove 66.66% of the tar – and to improve the taste of any cigarette.” The holder, like so many tobacco products or paraphernalia, was able to adapt with the times. It can simultaneously be “healthful” and sexy.

Pipes – ing20908

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Pipes and loose pipe tobacco are often advertised directly to men, and, indeed, are represented as highly masculinized and often genteel. Yello-bole pipes, for example, advertises for “The All-Male taste,” and Flying Dutchman pipe tobacco claims that their tobacco will allow men to “lead women around by the nose.” Further, one ad for Tuxedo tobacco implies that smoking a pipe is a pleasure offered only to men, while a famous actress sighs, “The fragrance of pipe tobacco makes me wish I were a man.”

Beyond the masculinity approach, many pipe ads focus on throat ease, since unlike cigarette smoke, pipe smoke cannot be inhaled due to its high alkalinity. Though these ads advertise health benefits for pipe smoking – Kaywoodie claims that “pipe smokers live longer” and the Medico pipe claims it “gives you pleasure and peace of mind” – pipe smoking is associated with higher incidences of oral cancers than cigarette smoking, and nicotine is absorbed in higher levels as well.

African American – img35565

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In 2013, of the 29.8% of African American adults who reported “current use” (i.e. smoking in the past month), 7.5% of African American adults reported use of cigars. In fact, while cigarette consumption in America is declining, snuff and cigar has increased, prompting researchers to specifically address concerns about youth perceptions and smoking behaviors particularly amongst minority populations.1

Historically, tobacco companies have targeted advertising and promotional activities in minority communities; census tracts with a higher proportion of African American families and individuals have significantly higher tobacco retailer density. Furthermore, researchers in recent years have found that illicit sales to minors are much more common in African American neighborhoods, and that stores in these neighborhoods are less likely to request age identification for the purchase of tobacco products; exterior advertising for little cigars and cigarillos are also higher in many of these neighborhoods.2

Advertisements in this theme feature prominent “the everyday Dad.” For instance, an ad for White Owl features a dad smoking his cigar and enjoying a book with his two children on either side of him. The ad’s slogan says , White Owl is, “the cigar that Daddy smokes!”Ads by El Producto include testimonials from everyday professionals on the natural mildness of the cigar.

1. Dauphinee, A, et al. (2013). “Racial differences in cigarette brand recognition and impact on youth smoking,” BMC Public Health, 13:170, Retrieved May 31, 2017 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3586353/

2. Rodriguez, D, et al. (2017). “Predictors of tobacco outlet density nationwide: a geographic analysis,” Tobacco Control, Retrieved May 31, 2017 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3431432/

3. Bach, L. (2017). Tobacco Company Marketing to African Americans .Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids . Retrieved May 31, 2017, from https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0208.pdf.

4. Yerger V, Pearson C, Malone RE. (2001). When is a cigar not a cigar? African American youths' understanding of “cigar” use. American Journal of Public Health , 91: 316-7.

Sports – img35616

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The relationship between cigars and sports was first introduced to the public more than 25 years ago when a national sports magazine featured a variety of advertisements on sports-related cigar boxes drawn from the National Cigar History Museum collection.

Increasingly in the decades that followed, prominent athletes began making public claims that correlated positive sportsmanship and winning titles to smoking cigars and cigarettes. This attracted tobacco companies like Philies to market products including their “Miracle Mild” cigars for the full range of sports fanatics: young, old, major league stars, and college basketball players alike; examples of this can be found in numerous Phillies advertisements that playoff of the 1960’s baseball culture. One of their advertisements strategically position “Miracle Milds” alongside statistics showing the top batting scores of the National League, suggesting a correlation between the nation’s top players and their cigar product. Furthermore, Phillies prided itself on being “America’s No. 1” for “Year ‘Round Sports Programs,” riding on the backs of popular news channels to elevate their message (e.g. National Broadcasting Company – NBC).

 Cigar companies used celebrity endorsements to promote their products. Michael Jordan, arguably the biggest star in basketball history, was pictured with a cigar in hand on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1993. Similarly, former NBA Coach Red Auerbach, the powerful figure who guided the Boston Celtics to a nine out of ten championship win between 1949 and 1966, practiced a very public habit of smoking a cigar after each winning game that this image eventually evolved into a symbol of victory in the history of sports. Brands such as Te-amo in the past invited their fans to celebrate athletes’ victories with even a special free cigar offer (i.e. Dana Quigley’s 2001 SBC Senior Open and Te-Amo Cabinet Selection Cigar.

Healthy Cigars – img35621

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In the first half of the 20th century, tobacco companies were forthright with their health claims, featuring doctors hawking cigarettes or cigars in many of their ads. Consumers who saw these ads were made to feel that they would be following the doctor s orders to achieve health or fitness if they were to smoke the cigarettes advertised. Today, these nefarious health claims in tobacco ads are no longer so obvious; now, often words like pleasure or alive are keywords which indicate healthfulness. Doctors are no longer represented hawking cigarettes in ads, but the past audacity of tobacco companies is just as relevant in modern times.

At the time when many of these ads were printed, the public was worried about throat irritation due to smoking, and tobacco companies hoped that support from physicians would ease general concern. The none-too-subtle message was that if the doctor, with all his expertise, recommended a brand, then it must be safe.

In this theme, brands depict doctors hawking tobacco products in order to present the brand as healthful rather than harmful. An ad for Girard cigars has the image of a physician with a cigar in his hand accompanied by the following text, “Yes, I am a doctor. And I advise the smokers among my patients to smoke Girard cigars. In fact, I smoke them myself!..” The ad continues that the tobacco in Girard is “free from ill effects on the heart, the nerves or the digestion.” An ad by Thompson’s Mell-o-well has a physician recommending the brand of cigars to “any who are interested in regaining or keeping physical fitness.” It is ironic that in the process, they all manage to reveal the negative potential of tobacco by providing the consumer with the concept of an unhealthy cigarette or cigar in the first place.

Sex Appeal – img35635

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The tobacco industry, including cigar companies, have for long used sex appeal to gain the attention of consumers.

In this section, you will see a lot of advertisements for Tiparillo cigars. The professional women in the advertisements (e.g., biologist, dentist, librarian etc) are presented as sexual objects. For instance, in the “Should a gentleman offer a Tiparillo to a violinist,” advertisement that appeared in Playboy magazine, the woman is seen intently gazing at the camera, with her silk shirt open and her cleavage exposed. The text that accompanies the advertisement is highly sexual in nature. A part of the advertisement reads, “Well, should you offer? After all, if she likes the offer, she might start to play. No strings attached.”

In another advertisement in the series, identical twins with pronounced cleavage are seen gazing at the camera. The green of their sweaters and the background is a subliminal nod to the menthol flavored Tiparillo. The open cigar pack with the phallic shaped cigar is pointed at the mouth of one of the twins. By portraying women in a sexual manner, the professionalism of the women is weakened and the women are nothing more than an object for male pleasure.

Although advertisements with sex appeal are primarily targeted at men, they also manipulate young women into believing that a certain brand of cigarette might make her sexier and more attractive to men.

Children – img38327

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Children have played a huge role in tobacco advertising over the decades, and images of children fulfill multiple purposes for tobacco advertisers. Depictions of children with their mothers or fathers in cigarette advertisements reinforce the respectability of smoking as a part of normal family life.

In an advertisement for Dutch Masters Cigars, the image is a warm one of a cheerful boy happy in the embrace of his father. The text of the advertisement reads, “A son’s hug… a daughter’s kiss… what is so dear to a father’s heart as his family’s love.” For Father’s Day, Dutch Masters also had cigar packs with the image of a father and son printed on it. In another advertisement for Dutch Masters, the image is of a young boy playing in the backyard of his suburban home. On one hand he is carrying a toy truck, while the other hand is carrying a string of empty Dutch Master cartons. In the background, you see his younger sister on the swing.
In yet another ad by the cigar maker, this one Christmas theme, a dad is sitting around smoking his cigar while his children (boy and girl) are setting up a toy city. Empty Dutch Master boxes are used to build the homes and garages. The text of the advertisement notes, “As soon as dad hands over another empty Dutch Masters box, one more house will start to rise. And this is a building boom that dad’s happy to help along-because he finds consistent pleasure in a full box of Dutch Masters.”

The images of youngsters tends 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. Use 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.

Papers – ing7839

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The first commercial rolling papers were produced in 1660 by the Lacroix family after Frenchman Lacroix allegedly traded a bottle of Champagne for rolling papers that French soldiers were transporting from Spain; following that, in the year 1736, the Lacroix Rolling Paper company was founded.1

Today, rolling paper is made from a variety of materials, including wood pulp, rice-based paper, hemp (e.g. pure hemp papers by Joker), flax seed (e.g. white cigarette papers by Chesterfield), and other plant-based materials.2 These products are often advertised for possessing certain characteristics like “slow burning” (e.g. King size Joker), a wide selection of sizes (e.g. Mucha Job cigarette paper), and a “Do-it-yourself” capability (e.g. Job’s Adams Apple). Additionally, many of them employ similar marketing strategies as do cigarette packages, featuring celebrities like Bob Marley, sex appeal, elegant type print, and makeshift paintings. In fact, the evolution of these cigarette paper advertisements can be seen through several motifs including its artistic modes and use of female figures. For example, in the first two Mucha Job advertisements, the women painted are done so in the Classical Art Nouveau style popular of the 1890’s, a style of international art that employs decorative and architectural aspects; markedly, no written text is apparent on the prints. Overtime, however, the prints illustrate women in more dynamic colors, like in the 1897 Vintage print with a woman in yellow and white stripes; by the mid-to-late 1900’s, it became commonplace for cigarette paper ads to feature images of real female models posing with cigarettes and in sexually suggestive manners, instead of merely depicted them in hand drawings and paintings. Advertisements also focused on celebrities, a clean style, and other features like brand mascots.

1. The History of Rolling Papers. (2017). Rolling Paper Depot. Retrieved June 2, 2017, from https://www.rollingpaperdepot.com/pages/The-History-of-Rolling-Papers.
2. The Best Materials for Rolling Papers. (2017). Rolling Paper Depot. Retrieved June 2, 2017, from https://www.rollingpaperdepot.com/pages/The-Best-Materials-for-Rolling-Papers.