Jezebel: tobacco

This Was Not The Work Of Don Draper.

Sadie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST

We don't think, that is.

Tobacco Companies Target Women In South Korea

Margaret — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:40:00 EST

According to internal documents from the tobacco industry, companies are applying the same tactics used in the U.S. and Europe since the 1920s to lure a new generation of female smokers in South Korea.

Research published in the journal Globalization and Health found that since the South Korean cigarette market was opened to the world in 1988, transnational tobacco companies have been running ads in the country that link smoking with feminism and the liberation of women. "Product design associating smoking with body image and female emancipation, familiarly deployed elsewhere, have been extensively used in South Korea to appeal to female smokers," says lead researcher Kelley Lee. Though South Korea banned tobacco advertising marketed directly to women and children in 1989, the tobacco companies found ways around the law, such as using couples in ads and billing cigarettes as "ultra light" or "superslim," to target women. Smoking rates among women in certain age groups have risen in the past 20 years in South Korea, and researchers say the government needs to tighten restrictions and educate the public on the facts about smoking. [EurekAlert]

Lisa Simpson's Feminist Heroes Were All Smokers

Tracie — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:00:00 EDT

Last night's episode of The Simpsons struck a particular chord with me because it was all about Lisa's newfound interest in smoking, which she undertakes in order to lose weight and handle the stress of ballet class. I quit smoking in April 2003 with the help of Zyban, but about a month ago, I picked it up again, due to stress from my job, and admittedly, a desire to avoid stuffing my face with food while I'm at home all day. In the clip above, Lisa is visited by smoke ghosts in the forms of her feminist heroes — Lillian Hellman, Queen Elizabeth I, Margaret Mead, Lauren Bacall [A ghost? Isn't Bacall still alive? -Ed.] — who underscore the fact that millions of otherwise-intelligent women fall prey to the "allure" of cigarettes. And with that I say: "This one is my last pack. I swear!"

How To Market Death To Women: Make It Sexy, Make It Pink

dodai — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:40:00 EST

Take a look at the language used to sell a certain item to women. What is this light and luscious "must-have," you ask? Not a whisper-thin Philip Lim dress or a Weight Watchers angel food cake. The product is a pack of Camel cigarettes. This "must-have" is a known carcinogenic, but "they taste as good as they look," which is all chicks care about, right? Camel No. 9s are packaged in a sleek black box trimmed in pink. And the ad (in its entirety, after the jump) is pink and black, like an elegant boudoir or the inside of a jewelbox. There's a "purse," which holds two black credit card-like coupons, and and offer to visit the Web site and get cigarette cases designed by three "up-and-coming fashion designers." (We logged in but couldn't find further information, any idea who these up and comers are?)

The ad, which was elaborately designed and executed, arrived to one Jezebel's home via direct mail, which is one way tobacco companies are forced to reach people, now that they no longer advertise in women's magazines. The vibe is upscale, luxe, exclusive, pretty — words you could use to describe say, Vogue or the lifestyle portrayed on Sex and the City. (And Camel is not the only brand that makes "designer" smokes.) But a pack of cigarettes is not a Prada dress or Blahnik shoe. Or is it? Is there something inherently chic about smoking, even today? Teenagers often start smoking because it "looks cool" and then find themselves with a habit that's hard to break. And though some of us think that smoking and advertising have nothing to do with each other, the fact remains that a deadly product is glamorized. Wouldn't we all give pause if we saw a gun or a disease-loaded syringe treated the same way?

(Click to enlarge)

Earlier: Sex And The City-Inspired Cigarette Ads Die Early Death
Lawmakers Get Pissy About Cigarette Ads In Women's Mags

Related: Puff Daddies: Designer Cigarettes [Glam.com]

Lawmakers Get Pissy About Cigarette Ads In Women's Mags

Moe — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 18:39:10 EDT

A bunch of lawmakers are mad about cigarette advertisements in women's magazines. We'd tell you who, but it's the end of the day, and what we have to say is: Pall Mall, you suck. Your yellow cardboard ads annoy the shit out of us. Otherwise, as we sit here scratching our heads wondering how we caught bipolar disorder, we'd like to point out, politicos, that we already KNOW we like cigarettes. Tobacco companies' ads don't sway our opinions in any way, nor do their fancy new female-friendly packages or the awful party RJ Reynolds sponsored with the Misshapes that one time we actually left the house to go to a party. While we're never quite sure whether we need a new brand of mineral foundation or variety of eye cream or formulation of sleep aid or flavor of lip gloss, we know we need cigarettes, at least when we can remember to leave the house, and we furthermore know that the need has nothing to do with advertising, and everything to do with the fact that cigarettes go fucking great with the morning Sumatra.

Pols Protest Tobacco Ads In Women's Mags [Forbes]