A content analysis of 568 cigarette ads during 1926–86 found that most explicit claims (i.e., statements) are about health, construction, and taste. Consistent with theoretical predictions, and contrary to popular belief, health claims emphasized the negative health aspects of smoking, except when prevented by regulation. Moreover, emphasis in health claims corresponded to the dominant smoking-and-health fears of the time. Health-related claims came in two major waves, first in the late 1920s through the early 1950s, reaching a peak during the cancer scare of the early 1950s, and then again after 1966, when the FTC first allowed tar and nicotine claims, and later required tar and nicotine information and health warnings.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AltmanDavid G., SaterMichael D., AlbrightCheryl L. and MaccobyNathan (1987), “How an Unhealthy Product is Sold: Cigarette Advertising in Magazines, 1960–1985,” 37Journal of Communication, 95–106 (Autumn).
2.
BlumAlan (1983), “When ‘More Doctors Smoked Camels’: Cigarette Advertising in the Journal,” 83New York State Journal of Medicine, no. 13 (December), pp. 1347–52.
3.
BlumSam (1966), “An Ode to the Cigarette Code,”Harpers Magazine, March, p. 60–63.
4.
BordenNeil H. (1942), The Economics Effects of Advertising.Chicago: Richard D. Irwin.
5.
BurneyL. (1958), “Statement, July 12, 1957,” 8 Ca, Bulletin of Cancer Progress, 44, March-April.
6.
BurneyL. (1959), “Smoking and Lung Cancer A Statement of the Public Health Service,” 171 Journal of the American Medical Association, 1828–37, November 28, 1959.
7.
Business Week (1953a), November 21, 1953, p. 145; (1953b), December 5, 1953. p. 68, “Cigarette Scare: What'll the Trade Do?”; June 19, 1954, p. 58; December 26, 1964, p. 14; December 10, 1965.
8.
CalfeeJohn E. (1985), “Cigarette Advertising, Health Information and Regulation Before 1970,” working paper, Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission, 1–79.
9.
CalfeeJohn E. (1986), “The Ghost of Cigarette Advertising Past,”Regulation, November-December, 1986.
10.
CalfeeJohn E. and RingoldDebra Jones (1989), “The Proposed Cigarette Advertising Ban: Law. Economics and Policy,” unpublished.
11.
Consumers Report, July 1938, p. 5–9.
12.
DavisRonald M. (1987), “Current Trends in Cigarette Advertising and Marketing,” 316 New England Journal of Medicine, 725–32 (March 19).
13.
DoronGideon (1979), The Smoking Paradox, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Abt Books.
14.
Federal Trade Commission (1955), “Cigarette Advertising Guides,” 2 CCH Trade Regulation Reporter, section 39,012; reprinted in Federal Trade Commission Annual Report for year 1960.
15.
Federal Trade Commission (annually, starting in 1968), Report to Congress Pursuant to the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act.
16.
Federal Trade Commission (1981), Staff Report on the Cigarette Investigation, by MyersMatthew,
17.
FordGary, RingoldDebra and RogersMartha (1990), “Cigarettes in the Popular Press: Preliminary Research,” forthcoming in Advances in Consumer Research, volume 17.
18.
Fortune (1953), “The Uproar in Cigarettes” December, p. 130.
19.
Fortune (1963), “Embattled Tobacco's New Strategy” January, p. 100.
20.
FriedmanKenneth (1975), Public Policy and the Smoking Health Controversy, Lexington, Mass.
21.
HanleyR. T. (1927), “An Entire Industry Turns to Negative Advertising: Explaining How the Cigarette Business Developed a Coughing Spell,”Printers Ink, December 19, p. 10.
22.
Health Advocacy Center (1986), Sixty Years of Deception: An Analysis and Compilation of Cigarette Advertisements, 1925–85, Palo Alto, California: Health Advocacy Center.
23.
HochStephen J., and DeightonJohn (1989), “Managing What Consumers Learn from Experience,” 53Journal of Marketing, 1–20.
24.
KassarjianHarold H. (1977), “Content Analysis in Consumer Research,”Journal of Consumer Research, 4 (June), 8–18.
25.
LittellR. (1942), “Cigarette Ad Fact and Fiction,”Reader's Digest (July), p. 5–8.
26.
McAuliffeRobert E. (1987), Advertising, Competition, and Public Policy: Theories and New Evidence.
27.
McAuliffeRobert E. (1988), “The FTC and the Effectiveness of Cigarette Advertising Regulations,”Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, vol 7, pp. 49–64.
28.
MilesRobert H. (1982), Coffin Nails and Corporate Strategies, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
29.
MillerL., and MonahanJ. (1963), “The Cigarette Controversy: A Storm is Brewing.”Reader's Digest, August, p. 91–98.
30.
NeubergerMaurine B. (1963), Smoke Screen: Tobacco and the Public Welfare, Prentice-Hall.
31.
The New Republic (1966), “Squabble Over Cigarettes,” (May 7) p. 7.
32.
PollayRichard W. (1984), “Content Categories: Definitions and Examples,”Content Analysis of Print Advertising, 1900–1980, History of Advertising Archives, Vancouver, Canada: University of British Columbia.
33.
PollayRichard W. (1985), “The Subsiding Sizzle: A Descriptive History of Print Advertising. 1900–1980.” 49Journal of Marketing, 24–37 (Summer).
34.
PollayRichard W. (1987), “Themes and Tactics in Cigarette Advertising, 1938–83: Technical Report on Methods and Measures,” The History of Advertising Archives, Faculty of Commerce, University of British Columbia.
35.
PosnerRichard A. (1979), “The Federal Trade Commission's Mandated-Disclosure Program: A Critical Analysis,” in GoldschmidtHarvey, ed., Business Disclosure: Government's Need to Know, New York: McGraw-Hill, 331–59.
36.
Printers Ink, December 10, 1965, “How Cigarette Code …”, p. 31.
37.
RingoldDebra (1987), “A Preliminary Investigation of the Information Content of Cigarette Advertising: A Longitudinal Analysis,” in 14 Advances in Consumer Research, Melanie Wallendorf and Paul Anderson, eds, pp. 269–73.
38.
RogersMartha, and GopalAbhijit (1987). “Up in Smoke: Fifty Years of Cigarette Advertising in America,” in Marketing in Three Eras (Proceedings of the Third Conference on Historical Research in Marketing), NevettTerence and HollanderStanley C., eds. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, 257–72.
39.
SchellingT. (1978), “Ergonomics, or the Art of Self-Management,” 68American Economic Review (Proceedings), 290–94 (May).
40.
TaylorPeter (1984), Smoke Ring: The Politics of Tobacco, London: The Bodley Head.
41.
TyeJ., WarnerK. and GiantzS. (1987). “Tobacco Advertising and Consumption: Evidence of a Causal Relationship,” 8Journal of Public Health Policy, 492–508 (Winter).
42.
U.S. Public Health Service (1964), Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General, Doc. No. 1103, Washington D.C.
43.
WagnerS. (1971), The Federal Trade Commission, Praeger.
44.
WarnerKenneth E. (1985), “Tobacco Industry Response to Public Health Concern: A Content Analysis of Cigarette Ads,” 12Health Education Quarterly, 115–27.
45.
WarnerK. (1987), “A Ban on the Promotion of Tobacco Products,” 316New England Journal of Medicine, 745–47.
46.
WoottenH. (1956), “Cigarette Output Up 4.8%—Filters Up 59%,”Printer's Ink, December 28, p. 11.
47.
WynderE. (1988), “Tobacco and Health: A Review of the History and Suggestions for Public Health Policy,” 103Public Health Reports, 8–18 (January-February).
