17 Outrageous Vintage Cigarette Ads
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The big, bad tobacco industry has never been known for its transparency or goodwill. Take a brief look at the advertisements they were churning out a mere few decades ago. How they got away with these the strange and outrageous associations and often ridiculous claims is truly mind boggling. What’s worse is that countless people bought into it.
But first a short quiz… According to the tobacco companies, which of the following would smoking a cigarette do:
A). Improve Digestion
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B). Give You More Energy
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C). Calm Your Nerves
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D). Make You More Fit
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E). Help You Lose Weight
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F). Sing Better
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G). Get Married
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H). All of the Above
There was time when cigarette companies claimed that smoking was good for your health. They even got the supposed backing of the medical establishment:
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It’s not such a surprise really. All those coughing, weezing, yellow-teethed patients out there could mean big bucks for doctors and dentists- especially for those with a private practice.
The tobacco industry tried to pitch their wares as wholesome family-minded products:
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…and they tried to convince men that smoking would make them, well… simply irristable:
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And if it didn’t all work out as planned… hey, at least you won’t get a hangover!
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And finally, some bonus “what were they thinking?” ads:
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Quick! Call 911… DSS… the battered women’s shelter?!
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Ho, Ho, Ho, *cough*
I’m really impressed with the \"black eye\" and the Santa Ads.
What were people thinking?
I remember those adds,
By the way, cigarettes were 35 cents then.
Ronald Reagan was in Chesterfield ads. Do you have any of those?
We didn’t include any in this post, but we’ve certainly come across those. They are certainly classics.
well it was a very different time, and nobody really thought smokes were bad to the point we do today.
then again, people may look back at our fast food ads in 70 years and think the same way!
These old cigarettes must have had pot inside!
“Blow in her face and she’ll follow you anywhere….” Gold! If only they knew just what it means today….
Have you seen the flintstones ads for Winstons?
Cigarettes were 23c in 1955 – not 35c. Great site I remember many of these ads.
does anyone knows where I can fine those pictures in a high res? It’ll be a great poster!
Thanks
as amazed as we are that people would believe these ads today,can you imagine how amazed we will be that people believed the “vote obama” posters from 2008………
Even more evidence for my multi-million $ lawsuit against the tobacco industry for my emphysema & cancer.
Reminds me of when America was a free country.
That post by Jon explains it all.
What’s the story with two different ads using the same artwork? The couple in the ad, “Why thank you dear. Did you salt and tobacco my eggs” is exactly the same artwork used in the ad for Van Heusen ties.
Wonder who the ad agency was and were they double billing on this?
“blow it in her face and she’ll follow you anywhere”
It wasn’t so much the ads as it was wanting to follow the fad, and a be part of the gang kind of thing. Very few people didn’t smoke back then. It was a socially accepted thing. We also had a lot of asbestos in our schools and homes then too!!
Funny – I idn’t notice that – back then they could probably get away with it!