Saturday Night Nostalgia: cigarette ads of the 20th century

You used to be cool if you smoked when we were younger and all the hottest celebrities were doing it. Who didn’t have a sneaky smoke when they were younger? Nowadays the health risks associated with smoking are well-publicised, and for this reason it is really interesting to look back on advertising from that era and the naivety.

In tonight’s Saturday Night nostalgia, we take a look at the cigarette ads of the 20th century.

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Sex sells…Tiparillo, 1968

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Cigarettes looked a bit too effeminate for some…so in came the flip-top box…Marlboro, 1958

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Frank Sinatra helped sell cigarettes in the 50s…ABC-TV, 1957

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Easing teens into cigarettes with a delicate flavour…Phillip Morris, 1955

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Even Lucille Ball was recruited to sell fags, promoting their quality in a saturated market…Philip Morris, 1953

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Hollywood glamour Lauren Bacall was a smoker and enjoyed these stylish sticks…Robert Burns, 1948

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Doctors used to approve cigarettes!  Camel, 1946

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Smoking ads were aimed at women so they could lose weight… Lucky Strike, 1929

 

Do you remember seeing these? Did they influence you? Tell us what you remember about smoking in your youth!