Cigarettes: Profit Before People
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Cigarettes: Profit before People The United States Tobacco Industry: 1870‐1964 19th Century Tobacco in the 1800’s In the 1800’s chewing tobacco was coined the American Habit. Spittoons were installed in the U.S. Senate chamber. Cigarette use increased at the turn of the 20th century. Improvements in transportation, manufacturing volume, and packaging allowed tobacco companies to expand their market and brands nationwide. Tobacco Advertising in the 19th Century In the late 1870s with the invention of color lithography, brands strengthen their identities; companies included small cigarette cards in every box as premiums. These collectible trading cards depicted movie stars, famous athletes and even Native American chiefs. The Bonsack cigarette rolling machine The Bonsack Rolling Machine automated the manufacturing of cigarettes, ushering in the mass production of cigarettes. Mechanical cigarette production fostered increased cigarette consumption and permitted the introduction of chemicals and additives to homogenize the tobacco and improve the flavor. Before the Bonsack rolling machine, cigarette were hand rolled at the rate of 200 cigarettes/day. The Bonsack Rolling Machine created cigarettes at a rate of 100,000/day. Albert Bonsack 1884 W. Duke Tobacco buys Bonsack machinery In 1884, James “Buck” Duke the owner of W. Duke Sons & Co. purchased two Bonsack cigarette rolling machines and in 1887, made exclusive contracts with Bonsack. In 1880 these tobacco companies were the “The BIG FOUR” Goodwin and Co. W. S. Kimball Kinney Bros. Allen & Ginter’s Old Judge Three Kings Sweet Caporals Richmond Straight Welcome Vanity Fair Pet Cigarettes On April 23, 1889, the Big Four merged, creating The American Tobacco Company Trust with “Buck” Duke as president. In the 1890s “Buck” Duke bought the competition 1909 American Tobacco dominates the domestic market By 1909, The American Tobacco trust controlled • 86% of the national cigarette business, • 85% of plug, • 76% of smoking tobacco, • 97% of snuff and 14% of cigar manufacture. Big tobacco, the railroads and Big oil were the three great monopolies of the 19th century. In 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court decides that the American Tobacco Co. was a monopoly and in violation of the Sherman Anti‐Trust Act (1890). The American Tobacco trust is dissolved into five companies: • American Tobacco Co. • R. J. Reynolds • Liggett & Myers Tobacco • Lorillard Tobacco • British‐American Tobacco When American Tobacco Company was dispersed into smaller companies the opportunity for competitive brands unfolded. The need for tobacco blends and advertising increased. Celebrities and sports stars endorsed cigarettes. Even physicians and nurses were depicted in cigarette advertisements, which appeared in medical journals and included many health claims. Original brand introductions World War I (1914‐1918) The First World War propelled a revolution in smoking habits and introduced a generation of men to the new convenience habit. Soldiers received a weekly ration of 50 cigarettes known as fags. Thousands upon thousands of soldiers returned from War as regular smokers, addicted to cigarettes. Each company introduced a flagship brand 1912 Liggett & Myers introduced "Chesterfield" Lorillard introduced the first Camel introduced blended cigarette, Old Gold in 1913 Label, in 1926 Raleigh introduced in 1926 American Tobacco launched Lucky Strike cigarettes in 1916 1913 Camel, R. J. Reynolds 1912 Chesterfield, Liggett & Myers Tobacco 1916 Lucky Strike, American Tobacco Co. 1926 Old Gold, Lorillard 1928 Raleigh, Brown & Williamson 1933 Kool, Brown & Williamson 1933 Philip Morris was not a part of the American Tobacco Company Trust In 1919, George Whelan Tobacco Products purchased the tiny U.S. Philip Morris Company, which includes PM's brands: Cambridge, Oxford Blues, English Ovals and Players. The new Philip Morris & Company, Ltd. Inc, is incorporated in Richmond, VA. 1940 Pall Mall, American Tobacco 70 mm Cigarettes of the 1930s and 1940s American Tobacco Lorillard Tobacco Brown & Williamson Liggett & Myers R. J. Reynolds Philip Morris Tobacco 70 mm Cigarettes of the 1930s and 1940s American Tobacco Lorillard Tobacco Brown & Williamson Liggett & Myers R. J. Reynolds Philip Morris Tobacco 1918 The Three Major Brands Women smoking Women and Smoking The cigarette habit took longer to take hold in the United States than overseas. The U.S. solders returned from the War to find a period of cigarette prohibition. Many towns considered smoking an arrestable offence on moral rather than medical grounds. In 1929 American Tobacco’s Lucky Strike appealed to women by suggesting they “Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet.” Edward Bernays However in the early 20th century smoking was not considered ladylike and women never smoked in public. George Hill of American Tobacco Company realized the potential of the new untapped demographic. In 1929, he asked a New York public relation executive, Edward Bernays , to help recruit women smokers. Bernays decided to capitalize on the newly emancipated women and called Lucky Strike cigarettes “torches of freedom.” Bernays called up a few of his debutante friends and asked them to walk in the New York City Easter Parade, lighting “torches of freedom” “to protest mans inhumanity to women by a taboo against smoking.” VIDEO TOBACCO WAR EXCEP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iplzsMazQz4 found at 13:00 min into movie Amelia Earhart Amelia Earnhart‘s liberated likeness was used by American Tobacco to advertise Lucky Strike cigarettes. 1953 Philip Morris’ Marlboro cigarette “Mild as May” Marlboro, The Cigarette of Distinction Radio ads, movies and celebrity endorsements Hollywood and the movies In the 1930, people visited the movies regularly; the theaters were crucial venues for tobacco advertisements. Philip Morris utilized a page boy midget, Johnny Roventini, and the slogan “call for Phillip Morris” to introduce the movies. But more importantly movie stars were highly influential as smoking role model. America Tobacco Company sent free cartons of Lucky Strikes to entice stars, like Clark Gabel, to smoke and show the Lucky Strike package on the big screen, as in the 1934 movie: Chained. American Tobacco Co. struck deals with a handful of U.S. Senators to endorse Lucky Strike cigarettes. In a testimonial ad depicted here, North Dakota Sen. Gerald P. Nye praised the "comfort and safety a light smoke gives my throat." Each Senator received $1,000 from the tobacco companies. Broadcast cigarette advertising increased rapidly during the 1930’s with more than half the American home owning a radio. American Tobacco Company sponsored Your Hit In 1940 the tobacco Parade. Industry continued to utilize radio Lorillard’s Old Gold cigarettes sponsored Artie media by broadcasting "Raleigh Shaw’s band broadcasting twice weekly. Cigarette Program" or Red Skelton's show which aired with this name for a period of time. Lucky Strike became the official tobacco partner of the Jack Benny Show in 1942 Holiday Ads In response to the 1939, article Carcinoma of the Lungs by Drs. Alton Ochsner and Michael DeBakey Edward Harlow, a chemist at the American Tobacco Company, circulated an internal memorandum. Referring to research funded or conducted by American Tobacco, Harlow predicted that impartial research would vindicate cigarettes but that “this would Document never be suspected by reading the needed extensive medical literature on tobacco.” He also noted that the “medical profession is the group which it is most desired to reach and convince” and that the “tobacco industry is very much in need of some friendly research in this field.” 1942 Smoking and Movies Humphrey Bogart Bette Davis Now Casablanca Voyager 1941 Billboard Advertising R.J. Reynolds’ Camel smoke‐ring billboard becomes a Times Square landmark for the next 25 years. World War II Doctors Nurses Lucky Strike Green Has Gone to War WORLD WAR II The cigarette habit exploded during World War II, when a world market opened up to the American tobacco industry. Britain spent more money on tobacco than war weaponry. Cigarettes were included in G.I.'s C‐Rations. Tobacco companies sent millions of free cigarettes to G.I.'s, internationalizing the most popular brands. While on the home front smokers had to make do with off‐brands like Ramses or Picayunes. More doctors smoke 1946 Lorillard Document states “Just enough evidence” Key Lorillard chemist, Harris Parmele, writes to the manufacturing committee stating: "Certain scientists and medical authorities have claimed for many years that the use of tobacco contributes to cancer development in susceptible people. Just enough evidence has been presented to justify the possibility of such a presumption." 1946 More Doctors Smoke Camels The phrase will run in ads through 1952 "According to a recent nationwide survey: MORE DOCTORS SMOKE CAMELS THAN ANY OTHER CIGARETTE! Family physicians, surgeons, diagnosticians, nose and throat specialists, doctors in every branch of medicine... a total of 113,597 doctors...were asked the question: "What cigarette do you smoke?" And more of them named Camel as their smoke than any other cigarette! 1946 More Doctors Smoke Camels Three independent research groups found this to be a fact. You see, doctors too smoke for pleasure. That full Camel flavor is just as appealing to a doctor's taste as to yours... that marvelous Camel mildness means just as much to his throat as to yours. Next time, get Camels.” Medical journals and legal issues In 1942 RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company advertised in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Reynolds even presented a exhibit of Camel cigarettes at an AMA Convention. 1943 Advertising in medical journals Philip Morris, in 1943, placed an ad in the National Medical Journal which read: "'Don't smoke' is advice hard for patients to swallow. May we suggest instead 'Smoking Philip Morris?' Tests showed three out of every four cases of smokers' cough cleared on changing to Philip Morris. Why not observe the results for yourself?" 1945 The three largest tobacco companies are convicted of anti‐trust violations Again in 1945, the three largest tobacco companies American Tobacco, Liggett & Myers and R.