Smoking & Society
Since colonial times, tobacco has played a crucial role in American society. The Native Americans who met Christopher Columbus inhaled tobacco through their noses. They used a long wooden tube called a tobacco and packed it with leaves form a species of plants called Nicotiana. Also they rolled the dried Nicotiana leaves in corn husks and inhaled the smoke through their mouths.
When the first cigarettes were made they were harsh-tasting and people were deterred by the bitter jolt of nicotine they received upon inhaling. John Rolfe, the English colonist who married Pocahontas, responded to the need for a more pleasant cigarette. He made a milder tobacco cigarette. For three-hundred years people smoked or chewed pure tobacco.
In the southern colonies, tobacco was the main cash crop. In the earlier years of the United States, men and a few women also smoked cigars and pipes more than cigarettes. Men chewed and dipped tobacco. There was milder, powdered snuff that was mainly used by women.
In the 1880s, cigarettes were mass-produced and became an important consumer item. For the first half of the twentieth century, cigarette sales rose steeply and the cigarette became entrenched in the social life of the U.S.
In 1964 when Surgeon General Luther Terry issued the first report linking cigarette smoking with cancer and other diseases, tobacco ads ran on television every day and every office had an ashtray. Smokers seemed to be a majority. As more information came out about the harms of tobacco, anti-tobacco groups and the temperance movement raised their voices more and more against the vice and the number of smokers dropped over time.
As tobacco became a major nuisance in the 1970s, it became a big problem for teenagers. In the 1980s, tobacco companies faced lots of criticism for aiming advertising at young people. The 1990s saw an increase in teenage smoking. Many people believe this was due to Marlboro's "Marlboro Man" who made smoking look masculine and confident. There was also Camel's "Joe Camel" character. Joe Camel is a cartoon camel who is cool and edgy. In the early 2000s, to many people's surprise, there was a big rise in teen girl smokers, so much that there were more female teen smokers then males.
The U.S. Government has had a love-hate, conflicted and contentious relationship with tobacco companies over the years, to say the least. Surgeon Generals Dr. Luther Terry and Dr. C. Everett Koop made themselves staunch opponents to tobacco companies. However, other politicians have helped tobacco companies. Congress representatives whose districts have tobacco as a big product feel obliged to support the industry seeing that tobacco companies are large businesses that provide jobs to many people and are such a major player in their area's economy. And to add, tobacco companies have contributed to politicians' campaigns.
At the national level, the government has helped the tobacco industry. The major tobacco companies have influenced federal laws and regulations. But seeing that tobacco is a product that endangers the health of people, the government has had to write laws that "restrict" tobacco.
Tobacco companies also hire "lobbyists", i.e. professional representatives to influence policy and laws in the industry's best interest. The Tobacco Industry Research Committee (TIRC), a public relations group funded by tobacco companies, claimed in 1994, that the tobacco industry employed almost two million Americans. That number is a bit inflated, including people who drive trucks and deliver tobacco products to clerks in convenience stores who sell tobacco products. People in the core business of tobacco, such as: farmers, workers in factories, executives and the distributors number about 550,000, according to a Department of Agriculture estimate. Some politicians are going to have to answer to these 550,000 people.
Tobacco companies are also big tax payers. Estimates of federal tax on tobacco was $8 billion in 2002. States and localities received an estimated $11.6 billion in tobacco taxes in 2003.
Between 1979 to 1990, tobacco companies contributed $1 Million to PACs (Political Action Committees) for elections to federal offices. The Center for Responsible Politics found that total tobacco-related political contributions between 1995 and 2000 was a sum of $23.2 million. This large amount of money was the result of many government officials attempting to put more regulations on tobacco in public society. Common Cause, another political watchdog group, reported that tobacco companies gifted more than $9 million from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2002.
In the early 1960s, medical groups began pressuring congress that some kind of warning should be posted on cigarettes as health research had linked smoking to cancer and a few other things. Tobacco companies fought against their products having to be labeled as hazardous. The very watered down warning label that passed through all of congress in 1965 was "Smoking may be hazardous to health." In 1970, the warning got a little sterner with "Smoking is dangerous". Then in 1985, law was made that cigarette packs had to be labeled as potentially causing specific diseases. As research had also been done about the dangers of smokeless tobacco and a widely known lawsuit had been brought against the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, in 1986, the U.S. Government began requiring chewing tobacco bags and snuff cans to have one of three labels: "This product may cause mouth cancer", "This product may cause gum disease and tooth loss" and "This product is not a safe alternative to cigarettes."
In 2009, when the FDA was given regulatory authority over tobacco products they required additional labels such as: "Cigarettes can cause fatal lung disease" and "Nicotine is an addictive substance." However, warning labels on tobacco products are still very weak compared to that of other countries. For example, in Australia cigarette packs must use six rotating warning messages that cover 25% of the front of the pack. One side panel is entirely given to the labeling of dangerous ingredients. Also the Australian government requires that 33% of the back panel include the same message and elaborate on that message.
In 1952, Reader's Digest published an article "Cancer By the Carton." This was the first article that informed the general public about the connection between smoking and cancer. Within two years of this article, cancer patients began suing tobacco companies to recover the costs of their medical care. Lawyers argued that tobacco companies neglected to tell their consumers about the health hazards of their products. While tobacco companies won all these early cases with their high-dollar law firms, defeating middle-class lawyers, the U.S. Government knew they couldn't avoid tobacco companies going about freely in society, marketing their products with no restrictions.
A high profile case that gained national attention took place in 1986. It was Betty Ann Marsee vs. United States Tobacco Company (now known as U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company). Mrs. Marsee's son, Sean Marsee, died at the age of nineteen from mouth cancer. Sean Marsee was one of the top athletes in the state of Oklahoma, as he won twenty-eight track medals in his tenure. He began dipping Copenhagen at the age of twelve. When he was a senior in high school, Mrs. Marsee took him to a physician when an irritating spot was found on his tongue. He was diagnosed with cancer by the mouth and after a ten-month battle with the cancer he died at the age of nineteen. Mrs. Marsee filed a $147 million suit against the owners of Copenhagen snuff with health experts testifying that her son's mouth cancer was a result of his six year use of snuff. Despite many people rallying around the Marsee family, the U.S. Tobacco Company won the case.
Despite the Marsees' loss and other suits not being successful against tobacco companies, many people were still encouraged and wanted tobacco companies to be held liable for the health damage their products had caused. In 1994, the most serious attempt to sue tobacco companies came about as sixty law firms from around the U.S. joined together to file class action in federal court. A class action covers all those who have been harmed by an action. The lawsuit demanded that tobacco companies pay damages, not for getting people sick but for lying to them about the addictive power of nicotine.
In 1996, a federal appeals court struck down the case. Judges found that the circumstances of the ninety million individuals involved were too different and that the state laws involved in the case were also too far apart. The law firms then launched class-action lawsuits in all fifty states. Many of these cases were also thrown out but in 2003, a Florida jury awarded victims of smoking $145 million in punitive damages. Unfortunately, this decision was later reversed on appeal.
In 1995, tobacco companies faced the most serious challenge they had yet faced. Michael Moore, state attorney general for Mississippi, filed a lawsuit against tobacco companies to recover the money that the state spent treating people for tobacco-related illnesses. Mr. Moore created a trend that ended with similar suits from all fifty states. After years of negotiations, most state lawsuits were settled out of court. This settlement became known as the Master Settlement Agreement. It was signed in 1998 and the tobacco companies agreed to pay the states $205 Billion over twenty-five years.
"The Big Six" refers to the six biggest tobacco companies in the U.S. They are Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, America Brands, Lorillard, and Liggett & Meyers. Philip Morris controls 43% of the cigarette market in the U.S. They manufacture the world's biggest selling cigarette-Marlboro, as well as Benson & Hedges, Meir and Virginia Slims. R.J. Reynolds controls 28% of the cigarette market. R.J. Reynolds was founded by Richard Joshua Reynolds in 1874 as a maker of chewing tobacco, when chew was the preferred form of tobacco. In the early 1900s, RJR created Camel which became a very popular cigarette. RJR also makes Winston, Salem, Doral and Vantage. Brown & Williamson was a small firm when they were bought by the British American Tobacco Company in 1927. The British American Tobacco Company turned B&W into the third leading U.S. tobacco company. Holding about 11% of the market, B&W's main brands are Kool, Richland and Capri. American Brands and Lorillard hold 7% of the cigarette market each. American Brands most popular cigarettes are Pall Mall, Carlton and Lucky Strike. Lorillard produces Newport which is usually a top five cigarette. Ligget & Meyers controls 2% of the market with the brands L&M and Eve.
Despite being competitors, the big tobacco companies have joined ranks when people of the general public and teh U.S. Government have threatened them with lawsuits and regulations. They formed the Tobacco Industry Research Committee (TIRC) to allegedly research the health effects of tobacco. The tobacco companies have supposedly hired "neutral" scientists to investigate what are "really" the hazards of tobacco. These scientists always favored tobacco in their research.
Former U.S. surgeon general Dr. C. Everett Koop once said, "The only scientists in the world who take a position opposing the fifty-thousand published articles on the dangers of smoking are those in the employ of the tobacco industry. Dr. Koop added that smoking is the number one public health problem of our time.
Even most tobacco farmers admit that tobacco is unhealthy. While there has always been a right-wing vs. left-wing battle among politics, often times both sides agree when it comes to tobacco. In the 1980s, when the big war was still going on between the public and tobacco companies, Republican Utah senator Orrin Hatch and Democrat Congressman Henry Waxman agreed that smoking is a menace to society.
One of the most controversial aspects of tobacco in public society has been tobacco companies advertising ethics. So controversial that tobacco companies aren't even allowed to advertise anymore, other than the property of businesses where they are sold.
For more than two-hundred years, advertising made tobacco popular; First on signs, then newspapers, then radio and television when they came into existence. The first recorded tobacco ad appeared in a New York newspaper in 1798 for the Lorillard Brothers.
In 2001, Advertising Age, the major trade journal covering the advertising business in the United States, opened up a website that looked back at the twentieth century as "The Advertising Century." The magazine listed he one hundred most effective advertising campaigns. When you consider all the advertising that has been done for everything from cars, clothes, department stores, restaurants, food, beverages to hotels and vacation resorts, it's a bit surprising to learn that five of those top one hundred advertisements were for cigarettes.
Tobacco companies (probably just like every other industry), uses advertisement to get new consumers from different demographics. Caucasian males were the main group that used tobacco over the years. Going back to the 1800s, caucasian men were the dominate demographic that chewed and dipped tobacco, smoked cigars and pipes, and then smoked cigarettes through the latter half of the twentieth century. As educated caucasian men stopped using tobacco products, especially cigarettes in the 1970s, tobacco companies targeted new audiences to market their products to.
Virginia Slims, Eve, Misty and Capri were cigarettes designed to lure women into smoking. These cigarettes are often described as being slim with a smooth taste, characteristics females would want to associate with. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, their ads would include themes that go along with women's liberation. Magazines aimed at young ladies such as Lucky, started getting paid advertisement for cigarettes. In 1960, about 10% of cigarette ads appeared in women's magazines. By 1985, advertising had increased to 34%.
The tobacco industry has also pointed advertisement at minorities. Cigarttes were highly advertised in African-American oriented magazines. In 1985, cigarette companies spent $3.3 million on advertisement in Ebony magazine alone. Philip Morris published a guide to African-American organizations filled with cigarette ads. The tobacco industry also donated lots of money to African-American charites to try and make friends among African-American professional leaders. In 1985, tobacco companies spent $5.8 million for advertisements on billboards in African-American communities. Brown & Williamson previously sponsored the Kool Achiever's Awards for adults who are working to improve the inner cities. The prize for the award was a donation of ten thousand dollars for a non-profit organization of the winner's choice. Also Philip Morris gave twenty-five million dollars in life insurance money to an African-American owned Harlem, New York based life insurance group.
The most popular cigarettes among African-Americans are menthol cigarettes, particularly Kool and Newport. Menthol is a cooling sensation. It is a colorless form of alcohol extracted from peppermint oil or made synthetically. Menthol is also used in cold medications. In cigarettes it cools the harsh burning sensation that comes when smokers inhale. Menthol in itself isn't harmful but the cooling sensation it produces allows smokers to drag more deeply and hold the smoke longer. Thus, smokers inhale more carbon monoxide, nicotine and harmful substances.
Hispanics have also been targeted by cigarette companies. Cigarette brands with Spanish names have been created such as: Rio, L&M Superior and Dorado. In 1985, two of the top ten companies advertising in Hispanic communities were cigarette companies. Philip Morris at one and R.J. Reynolds at ten. In 1985, cigarette companies spent $1.4 million on advertising in Hispanic neighborhoods which was by far the most advertised product to Hispanics. Philip Morris published a guide to HIspanic Organizations filled with cigarette ads in both English and Spanish.
Certainly the most contentious side of tobacco's history in advertising has been their marketing efforts to teenagers. In 1998, the Journal of the American Medical Association published as article calling out the tobacco companies. Editor George D. Lundberg, former surgeon general C. Everett Koop and former FDA commissioner David Kessler all said, "For years the tobacco industry has marketed products that it knew caused serious disease and death. Yet, it intentionally had this truth from the public, carried out a deceitful campaign designed to undermine the public's appreciation of these risks and marketed it's addictive products to children...It claims it does not want children to smoke and then promotes advertising that appeals primarily to children. By these actions, the tobacco makers have shown themselves to be a rogue industry, unwilling to abide by ordinary ethical business rules and social standards.
Of course if tobacco companies didn't market to youth the entire industry would collapse in one generation. Most tobacco users die younger than non-tobacco users; therefore tobacco companies NEED young people to be replacement consumers for their products. Seeing that tobacco makes a young person feel grown up, confident and cool, youth are the perfect demographic for tobacco companies to target. And then, also add that most young people stay loyal users to the brand that they start with, a tobacco company that gets a teenager to start using its product usually gets a customer that is going to be loyal for fifty to sixty years.
Aforementioned, tobacco companies may claim that they aren't targeting teenagers with their ads but revealed information says otherwise. As far back as 1973, internal documents from R.J. Reynolds proved that assistant research director Claude Teague had teenagers in view when he said, "Realistically, if our company is to survive and prosper over the long term, we must get our share of the youth market. In my opinion, this will require new brands tailored to the youth market."
Smokeless tobacco companies also tapped into the youth market. U.S. Smokeless Tobacco used its Skoal line to allure young boys. A 1985 internal memo explained, "Skoal Bandits is the introductory product and then we look towards establishing a normal graduation process." This "graduation process" being that the user will want dip with more nicotine so they will begin using Copenhagen or a similar product. In 1993, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco introduced cherry flavored Skoal. One executive said, "Cherry Skoal is for somebody who likes the taste of candy, if you know what I'm saying." Of course, he was saying that Cherry Skoal was aimed at kids.
Chewing tobacco companies advertised heavily at rodeos. This was mostly in western states such as Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and the Dakotas. These tobacco companies were even giving away free chew to young boys.
Tobacco's most successful ad campaigns were the Marlboro Man and Joe Camel. When 1950s research revealed that boys become smokers to look mature and independent, Philip Morris thought of a campaign to turn teenage boys onto Marlboro. The Marlboro Man was the result of this idea.
The Marlboro Man was a rugged, independent individual. The ad was the most successful and longest running campaign in tobacco history. The Marlboro Man made Marlboro the world's largest-selling cigarette, capturing 26.5% of the market.
After the Marlboro Man helped Philip Morris dominate the cigarette industry, R.J. Reynolds began their own youth ad campaign. In February 1988, Joe Camel came on the scene. Joe Camel was a yellow-brown cartoon camel. Thanks to the Joe Camel campaign, Camel went from having 3% of the cigarette market to 13%. To no surprise, Camel was very popular among youth, attaining 33% of the teen smoking market. Camel was particularly popular with very young youth; those aged twelve, thirteen and fourteen.
Another marketing scheme tobacco companies have used (especially toward young people) is being affiliated with sports. Tobacco companies were the first group to create baseball cards.
In 1971, Congress signed law that banned television ads for all tobacco products. However, tobacco companies found another way to get their name on television. They began sponsoring sporting events.
Winston began sponsoring NASCAR's premier series, the Cup series. It was known as the Winston Cup from 1971 to 2003. Skoal was also a major sponsor of NASCAR. Skoal sponsored one of NASCAR's most popular drivers, Harry Gant in the 1980s and 1990s. Gant was nicknamed "The Bandit" after Skoal Bandits dip. Between 1995 and 1999, motor racing received the most sponsorship money with more than $208 million as auto racing is very popular in the southeast. The tobacco plant is mostly grown in the southeast and the southeast has the highest number of tobacco users in the United States.
Virginia Slims became synonymous with women's tennis as they sponsored many women's tennis tournaments. Other major tobacco sponsorships included rodeos, golf and billiards. One tobacco company donated three million dollars to complete the construction of a college football stadium.
Some tobacco companies came up with very clever marketing ideas during sports games. Philip Morris used billboard space in very high TV viewing areas. They placed Marlboro ads behind the goal posts in football stadiums and over the team entrances to the field.
On April 1, 1970 President Richard Nixon signed legislation officially banning tobacco ads on radio and television ads on radio and television. The law went into effect in 1971. In March 2010, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) prohibited tobacco sponsorship in all sports, entertainment, social and cultural events.