Early reports of potential health issues began to surface in the late 1940s and early 1950s with a rise in smoking-related lung disease including bronchitis, COPD, and emphysema. Lung cancer incidence also started increasing in the 1950s.1
To counter this scientific data, cigarette ads started to hint that some brands were more healthful than others. As the public became more aware of the possible dangers of smoking, the tobacco companies switched their advertising tactics away from testimonials of stars and started using endorsements from doctors.2
The "T zone test" depicted in the ad at the top promotes the notion that the nose, mouth, and throat will tell the smoker that Camels are milder. The box on the bottom of the ad implied that more physicians smoke Camels and therefore they were a safer brand. What it doesn't say is that the doctors in this survey were all attending a convention and a carton of Camels was placed in each of their rooms.²
1 Ernster Vl. Female lung cancer. Annu. Rev. Public Health. 1996;17:97-114.
2 Women and Girls Against Tobacco. |
