![]() ![]() Reynolds Tobacco Company had used advertising to target youth, minorities and women. The news wasn’t all good, though - particularly for young and/or marginalized populations. Public sentiment toward smoking mirrored the developments of medical research through the 1990s the female smoking rate had dropped to 22 percent by 1998. Surgeon General’s report on the Health Consequences of Smoking for Women was released in 1980, which prompted the medical community’s dedication to gender disparities in health. ![]() More than ever, the health care community had a better understanding of the complex connection between women and smoking. ![]() Throughout the 1980s - an era of increased awareness, health literacy and prevention efforts - smoking rates among women continued to decline. By 1979, less than 30 percent of women were smokers. In 1973, a widely publicized tennis match dubbed “The Battle of the Sexes” featured Billie Jean King and was controversially sponsored by Virginia Slims. When cigarette advertising was banned from television and radio, companies sought alternative ways to promote their brands - including sponsoring sporting and entertainment events. The campaign ran well into the 1980s, as the company’s market share grew exponentially during that time period. In 1968, Virginia Slims launched a campaign that co-opted women’s liberation language with the slogan, “ You’ve come a long way, baby.” The cigarettes were designed to be longer and more feminine, and the ads depicted elegant women and a contemporary lifestyle. In the same year, the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act mandated a warning on cigarette packages that read, “Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health,” and required government agencies to report tobacco advertising practices and health consequences of smoking to Congress annually.ĭespite the pushback, cigarette brands were set on keeping up the demand. ![]() Department of Health, Education, and Welfare reported that 41.9 percent of women smoked. The first federal data collection on smoking habits began in 1965. The statement marked the beginning of a decades-long effort by public health officials to educate the public about the dangers of smoking. Surgeon General published a report advising against smoking, a milestone gesture that would solidify the public health community’s position on smoking. It would be years before medical research on the effects of smoking reached the public and countered the aggressive marketing tactics that arose during the 1920s. Answering to women’s increasingly modern sensibilities and notions of aspirational beauty, the company also used ads to link smoking to weight loss - just one of its many purported “benefits” that contributed to a steady rise in the female smoking rate. The American Tobacco Company, for instance, appealed to calls for independence by featuring prominent women, such as Amelia Earhart, in Lucky Strike ads. As World War II saw women enter the workforce at a record rate, the correlation between smoking and liberation became even stronger.Įmboldened by the uptick, tobacco companies sought more ways to connect with women. As a result, the proportion of female smokers more than doubled from 1924 to 1929. One such tactic was Marlboro’s “Mild as May” campaign, an early attempt to make cigarettes appear more feminine. They used a range of aggressive tactics to reach this new target audience. Even feminist icons like Eleanor Roosevelt - the first First Lady to smoke publicly - partook, convincing tobacco companies to consider women as a profitable consumer base. Smoking was considered a serious taboo in the early part of the century, but as women’s desire for equality increased, smoking became an expression of female independence. ![]()
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