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.

Sex sells…Tiparillo, 1968

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

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

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

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

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

Doctors used to approve cigarettes!  Camel, 1946

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!