History of Tobacco Advertising

Cigarette Advertising

In 1911, the U.S government broke up the American Tobacco Company trust into many small companies. These companies are still around today. Until this time, picture cards came inside packs of cigarettes. These cards had pictures of baseball players, movie stars, and other famous people. Smokers collected them. Soon, tobacco companies stopped using these cards. Instead, tobacco companies paid advertisers to think of slogans to sell their product. These slogans convinced people they would enjoy smoking.

One popular slogan for "Chesterfield" cigarettes was "They Do Satisfy." In 1917, World War I started. Cigarette companies used pictures of soldiers smoking cigarettes in their advertising. Many people viewed soldiers as heroes. When they saw the soldiers smoking, they started smoking too. Soon, cigarette companies realized that women were not smoking as much as men. Then, women started appearing in cigarette ads. One famous ad for Lucky Strike cigarettes read, "I light a Lucky and go light on the sweets. That's how I keep in shape and always look peppy." Cigarette companies told women that they would not gain weight if they smoked cigarettes.

Cigarette Advertising after World War I

In the 1930's, many Hollywood movie stars smoked cigarettes. People saw these stars as heroes. Soon, they also began smoking cigarettes. Cigarette ads began appearing more and more in magazines and newspapers. In World War II, many soldiers, including General Douglas MacArthur, smoked cigarettes. As in World War I, people saw pictures of soldiers smoking Soon they began smoking.

In the 1950's, people complained that cigarettes made them cough. Soon, cigarette ads said that some cigarettes didn't make people cough. One popular slogan of Camel cigarettes was "Not a Single Case of Throat Irritation Due to Smoking Camels." Later, the Federal Trade Commission stopped the untrue ads. Instead, tobacco companies came out with filtered cigarettes.

Now, the companies advertise in sporting events. These events include "Winston Cup" car racing and "Virginia Slims" tennis matches.