For more than twenty years—until they were banned in 1971—cigarette commercials were a staple of American television. During this period, tobacco companies spent millions of dollars producing and airing elaborate ads designed to convince viewers that cigarettes were enjoyable, sophisticated, and harmless. As public awareness of smoking's serious health consequences grew, tobacco companies responded with new ads containing misleading assertions and confusing claims. When cigarette sales began to decline, advertisers embarked on fiercely competitive campaigns to promote new filter brands. Yet television commercials continued to skirt health issues and left consumers in the dark about the real risks of smoking. By the late 1960s, however, the link between cigarettes and disease was so well established that Congress took the extraordinary step of banning cigarette commercials from the airwaves, effective in early 1971. This article examines the twenty-two-year history of tobacco advertising on television and takes a critical look at some representative cigarette commercials.
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