Cigarette commercials on TV

[Workingslug]

The ban even went into NASCAR as so many protested that they could no longer have the Winston 500.

My favorite were the Bensen and Hedges for their 100 mm and people always getting the longer cigarette caught in like the elevator doors, etc.

My Father-in-Law would always smoke the filterless Lucky Strikes. Unfortunately his smoking habit caught up with him and he died of cancer at age 62.

I can even remember that my teachers in elementary school were allowed to have their smoking breaks in the "Teacher's Lounge" during the day.

Like they say, "Times do change".

[bgadow]

I remember seeing my favorite lunch lady smoking in the back of the kitchen, & my 4th grade teacher I saw smoking one day. Really lost a lot of respect from that. The teacher, sure enough, died of cancer. One of our bus drivers would, on occasion, smoke a pipe while driving. A nice fella, he was a county commisioner at the time-what were they gonna do about it? Later the bus was driven by a farmer who often smoked cigarettes while driving, a little harder for me to excuse. I missed all those cigarette commerials, anyway. I guess other tobacco products are still allowed-I always happen upon that guy on the radio with the cigar show!

Happy Hotpoint, huh? Better call in the vice squad, she sounds like trouble!

[Tubejunke]

I'm 36 and I remember well seeing ciggarette comercials in the 70's. Seems like it was the mid to late 70s that they stopped. I always liked the 50's commercials I have seen in rerun. Lucky Strike, Old Gold, and Chesterfield dancing boxes or CALL FOR PHILLIP MORRIS...

What I fail to understand is how in a country seemingly hell bent on trash TV (and anything else trashy we can get spend our $$ on) we can have something as rediculous as a ciggarette comercial ban. It may have made some sence in an age of at least some inocense but NOW. Come on! I have always found it rediculous how we come up with things like that but it is perfectly fine to cator to the worst addictive drug on the face of the earth, alcohol.

Yes America its fine and dandy to use alcohol and/or be an alcoholic but dont you smoke marijuana or even ciggarettes. Which one would you say causes the most physical/social problems? Be honest. Sorry if I'm going off topic here.

Its all about $$ like everything else. At least the marijuana thing as opposed to alcohol. Now the tobacco thing I still dont understand.

Tube

[Chad Hauris]

Recently I have also seen more ads on TV for liquor such as Bacardi, Bailey's Irish Cream, etc. They are not too frequent though...at one time there was a voluntary ban by TV stations (I believe through the NAB) to not allow liquor advertising, but it seems like cable networks especially have kind of relaxed those rules.

Yes, only cigarette advertising was banned, not cigars or pipe tobacco...the only broadcast tobacco ads I have heard recently though, were on that talk radio program for cigars.

I can remember as late as the mid-90's when I was in school there were cigarette machines in the university dining hall.

[Eric H]

I was 11 when the last ad aired but they must have been really effective because I can still remember so many of them!

Benson & Hedges "silly millimeter longer" "You can take Salem out of the country but..." "I'd rather fight than switch" "Marlboro Country" "You've come a long way baby"...

Fortunantly I always hated the smell of the things and never took up the habit.



From TVparty.com:

"The last cigarette commercial (for Virginia Slims) was broadcast on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show at 11:59pm on January 1, 1971. It was expected to be devastating for the networks when tobacco ads were banned - but they did all right without them, in spite of immediately losing $220 million dollars a year in revenues."

http://www.tvparty.com/vaultcomcig.html

[Tubejunke]

[QUOTE=Eric H]"The last cigarette commercial (for Virginia Slims) was broadcast on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show at 11:59pm on January 1, 1971.QUOTE]

That must be specifically VA Slims because I'm pretty sure I saw ads on daytime television much later than 71.

Tube

[Chad Hauris]

Here is an interesting report summarizing cigarette advertising on TV by a graduate student and professor at the University of North Texas:

http://www.rtvf.unt.edu/people/craig/pdfs/tvsmoke.pdf

It states that the cigarette ad ban on TV in the U.S.A. went into effect midnight, Jan. 1, 1971. If a station was airing cig ads after that they may have been just trying to sneak past the ban hoping they wouldn't get caught.

[Tubejunke]

Wow! I must have a better memory than I thought. I could have sworn there were Marlboro commercials up to like maybe 76. Oh well! No matter. I still think the whole attitude toward the tobacco industry is rediculous. Now there is some snotty attitude in business that smoking is some kind of bad image. I recently got a call from a District Manager riding by my store telling me to not smoke around customers. I was outside for Christs sake. Not too many years ago it was commonplace to have board meetings in smoke filled rooms. People smoked on TV talk shows. (Johnny Carson) If you didnt smoke you just dealt with it. Now I am realistic enough to understand that it should only be allowed in a properly ventilated room. Everyone deserves equal consideration. Even smokers....I think I'll quit everything and become an alcoholic. Socially, very acceptable, readilly available, and legal. And that makes it right....

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by Tubejunke

Even smokers. ...I think I'll quit everything and become an alcoholic. Socially, very acceptable, readilly available, and legal. And that makes it right....

Just don't go drunk driving. Otherwise enjoy!

[piece-it pete]

I'm 38 and barely remember vaguely cigarette ads on the tube, although I remember smoking everywhere, schools, etc. When I was in a particular type of institution in 1982 we were allowed to smoke (I was 15).

The SO picks up those cheap "remastered" dvds of old movies and shows, one of them is "Father knows best", the backdrop for the opening/closing credits is a tobacco leaf for goodness sake! I'm surprised the kids aren't smoking Laramie too lol.

IIRC alcohol ads are not allowed to show folks actually drinking the product. Makes me think of a take-off on the song "what I like about you":

What I like about booze.
It's real cheap
It makes you act stupid and wake up with your face in the street

A whole lot cheaper than crack cocaine
Savin' my money while I pickle my brain

(chorus) what I like about booze..

It makes women cute
It makes me look charming, even when I puke on their shoes...

That's all I remember. O well.

Pete

[fropiler]

Originally Posted by Tubejunke

Wow! I must have a better memory than I thought. I could have sworn there were Marlboro commercials up to like maybe 76. Oh well! No matter. I still think the whole attitude toward the tobacco industry is rediculous. Now there is some snotty attitude in business that smoking is some kind of bad image. I recently got a call from a District Manager riding by my store telling me to not smoke around customers. I was outside for Christs sake. Not too many years ago it was commonplace to have board meetings in smoke filled rooms. People smoked on TV talk shows. (Johnny Carson) If you didnt smoke you just dealt with it. Now I am realistic enough to understand that it should only be allowed in a properly ventilated room. Everyone deserves equal consideration. Even smokers....I think I'll quit everything and become an alcoholic. Socially, very acceptable, readilly available, and legal. And that makes it right....

Works for me, no such thing as second hand booze.

Eric, that "silly millimeter longer" brand had to be something different than Benson & Hedges, but I can't remember which one it was. B&H was 100mm and the "silly" one had to be 101mm. Those B&H ads were some of the best, very 60's, and my friends mom, the classiest lady I've ever known even though she was a chronic alcoholic, was smoking B&H way before they even ran ads on TV. I remember their built-in sideboard in the dining room always had a drawer full of those fancy B&H boxes--unopened. Of couse we'd occasionally steal a box and go hide and light up.

As for those who complain that we've cracked down too far on smoking in this country, I suggest a trip to Paris where smoking is allowed EVERYWHERE and everybody in your average workplace, offices, banks, etc. has an ashtray on their desk with cancer stick smoldering away. It tends to appear like a very backward culture. I don't think the rest of Europe is much better. This in a place where they pride themselves on their cuisine. How can they taste any of it when they have a cigarette going while they're eating, or even if they don't, they're breathing in the 2nd hand stuff from other tables? I enjoy a cigar once in a while, maybe a cigarette if it doesn't have a filter on it, but I'll never, never understand the habitual smoker.

[Chad Hauris]

Another point relating to smoking and TV's...have you ever smelled TV's or radios or other equipment that was in a smoking environment for a while...they can make the whole room smell like someone has been smoking in it! We have a magnavox set at the shop that is heavily infused with nicotine and it smells like someone has been smoking in the room just from that set.

Also have seen chassis and tubes covered with heavy cigarette tar and nicotine. That has to be one of the most pervasive smells out there, as it can linger for years in equipment even after removed from the smoking environment.

[andy]

....

[orthophonic]

I think the silly millimeter longer was L & M