Vintage Ads: Cigarette Print Ads From The Past

Since 1998 cigarette companies have been banned from advertising in Canada. Where we once saw print ads in newspapers and magazines, big billboards, and race cars promoting all kinds of tobacco brands, we now see none.

Today we’re taking a trip down memory lane to a time when cigarette companies weren’t just advertising, they were glamorizing their product with celebrity endorsements, recommendations by health care professionals and generally getting away with whatever they wanted.

There is no denying that as a society we are better off now with the research and knowledge about the dangers of smoking, and because we know what we do, these vintage cigarette company ads are almost laughable.

Here are some of our favourites from a quick search of the internet.

More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette
There is no way that any cigarette brand would get away with making this claim today. With all of the knowledge we have about the negative effects of smoking, this ad looks absolutely ridiculous in 2014.

In Fatima the Difference is Quality
Fatima used 5 stars of the day in 1 print ad: Rita Daigle, Jack Webb, “Bab” Beckwith, Lee Silver and Mrs. Deems Taylor. In 2014 there’s almost a complete 0% chance that you’d see a celebrity in a cigarette ad and tarnishing their public image.

As your Dentist I would recommend Viceroys
Doctors weren’t the only ones recommending particular cigarette brands in the past. We seriously doubt that any dentist will give you a recommendation for cigarettes at all, let alone a singular brand that is better for you than the others.

20,679 Physicians say “Luckies are less irritating”
It seems that getting a doctor to recommend a cigarette brand was a popular play. Again, knowing what we know now, it’s way off track. But before the current information about cancer and heart disease was available, why wouldn’t you trust your doctor?

“My cigarette is the MILD cigarette… that’s why Chesterfield is my favourite”
Before he was President of the United States, Ronald Reagan was a movie star with a cigarette endorsement deal. With all of the press that President Obama got when it was found out that he smoked occasionally, we can not imagine that the 2016 Presidential candidates would be well served by pitching smokes.

With the Boys… It’s Chesterfield
Movie star Betty Grable also pitched for Chesterfield in an ad that was clearly targeted towards women who wanted to land leading men. Sadly and ironically, Grable died of lung cancer in 1973 at the age of 56.

“Take my tip – smoke Chesterfield… much Milder”
Jackie Robinson is famous for breaking the colour barrier in Major League Baseball, and until we did this search we had no idea that he also pitched cigarettes for Chesterfield. The tobacco industry has a long history with baseball, and this is just one example of that relationship that is slowly disappearing in the 21st century.

… smoke Pall Mall the cigarette whose mildness you can measure
The most intriguing and ridiculous of all celebrity ads we found features Santa Claus himself. The argument that the tobacco industry targeted children in their advertising is an old one, and this ad might be the most impressive example of what needed to change to protect the children.