Social Issues

Media Influence

Since 1966, adolescent smoking has decreased every year until 1991. This change came a few years after the RJR Nabisco Company launched their hugely successful Joe Camel advertising campaign.

Joe Camel was the personification of cool and suave. He was a mix between James Bond and Don Johnson. This cartoon camel was always smoking and his sole purpose was to influence adolescents that smoking was cool and sophisticated.

His success influenced other big tobacco companies to launch their own cartoon characters. Brown and Williamson introduced Willie the Kool, a very fashionable penguin that many children wanted to imitate. Because radio and television advertisements for tobacco products were banned in 1971, the Tobacco corporations have been finding other ways to infiltrate into the lives of adolescents. Tobacco companies often sponsor big rock concerts in many countries, including Taiwan where the entrance ticket for a teen idol concert was five empty packs of Winston cigarettes. Also, in Taipei, complimentary packs of Salems are left on tables at teenage-frequented clubs.

Phillip Morris and Nabisco also sponsor sporting events, trying to imply that smoking and fitness are interwoven. Cigarette companies also give away merchandise for excessive smoking. They put coupons on or inside cigarette products such as Camel Cash?and Marlboro Miles?

Big tobacco does not only target younger audiences, but they also target younger women. When Phillip Morris, the producer of Marlboro; the worlds best selling cigarette brand introduced Virginia Slims, it was labeled as a womans cigarette. The billboards and magazine advertisements of Virginia Slims showed thin and beautiful women having a great time. Within six years of its introduction, the number of teenage girls that smoked more than doubled. Often, girls who are insecure of their bodies smoke to lose weight. The concept of 'thinner is better' has become a huge part of our lifestyle and states of mind. The media is full of lean figures as heroes and role models.

Around the world, tobacco companies take advantage of lax laws regarding distribution of tobacco products and give cigarettes to minors. In Buenos Aires, a representative of Camel was seen giving free packs to 15 and 16 year olds during their school recess. In concerts in Eastern Europe, teenagers are handed free cigarettes while in Hong Kong, even children as young as seven are addicted to cigarettes due to their easy accessibility.