The purpose of this article is to delve deeper into tobacco advertising and the fight to first ban advertising and then fight the use of the product itself. Tobacco is a harmful and dangerous legal drug that is still widely used by many Americans. This article will provide insight into the world of tobacco advertising and how it has changed over the last fifty years due to changing views of the product. There are many areas that affect tobacco prohibition and its advertising. First, this article will highlight some of the many ways tobacco companies advertise and market their various products. Then, he will explain the advertising restrictions facing tobacco companies today. This article will also delve into the role the Internet plays in circumventing the advertising ban adopted by the largest tobacco companies. Finally, this article will focus on how tobacco companies have advertised to children and youth with the aim of creating a natural addiction to tobacco products once they reach adulthood. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayTobacco Advertising: The Last Fifty YearsAdvertising has been around since people sold things to each other. It has changed a lot throughout history from simple word of mouth to thirty second commercials filled with shiny, eye-catching products. The first advertisement in the United States of the type we would see today appeared in the New York newspaper in 1789. Print advertisements were becoming increasingly common, and tobacco was happy to join the fray. In the early days of tobacco advertising, published ads were viewed no differently than those for coffee or sugar. This is due to the lack of real tobacco evidence available at the time. There was very little support showing the harmful effects of smoking tobacco, and so the product only gained popularity when print advertising became the norm. The average American sees approximately three thousand advertisements a day. They are perceived by various forms of media, such as: billboards, radio, television, newspapers, magazines, banners and many others. It is sometimes difficult to perceive how much these ads influence consumers' purchasing decisions, but the majority of products purchased daily are due to one advertisement or another that sparks interest. These advertisements are presented to the general public in numerous different ways. The company in question can use advertising strategies such as emotional appeal, testimonials, doctor's recommendations, common people; and, of course, bandwagon. Each of these different marketing approaches offers a particular way to intrigue the potential buyer. However, these contrasting forms of advertising are only useful when used in the correct context. The main point for a company to consider is which approach works on a certain portion of the general population. The most commonly found type of advertising name is known as target marketing. This is a practice used in most consumer marketing strategies employed by a company. Targeted marketing groups specific portions of the population into smaller subgroups that share similarities. Advertisements are often tailored to a specific subgroup using themes and images that appeal to the target audience. It is thanks to these advertisements that consumers purchase a particular product, due to the feelings they now associate with the product thanks to the advertisement. The tobacco industry caters todifferent groups of people with its advertisements. However, the main group that tobacco advertisements focus on is young people. Tobacco is an addictive product, and once you start using it, it is very difficult to stop. As a result, tobacco companies focus their efforts on young people so that they can create a new, potentially lifelong consumer. It is largely due to this fact that the various advertising bans have been supported and passed. When a harmful product was distributed to America's youth, he realized that they needed to be protected from the influence of tobacco for as long as possible. The purpose of an advertisement is to create an emotional response from its audience. The idea of ​​“buying a self-image” is something that has been developed by the media to create a more personal shopping experience. Marketers are constantly striving to identify new consumer trends that drive the mass purchasing mentality. They must determine the specific combination of images that will appeal to each person in a subgroup in the most efficient way. Tobacco advertisements are tailored to many different subgroups of the population. These groups are formed by a variety of factors, such as: race, age, gender, etc. The purpose of creating these subgroups is because each group is supposed to share a similar mindset as the other people in the group. This means that a group of older people might disapprove of the same thing, just as a group of teenagers might think something is cool. It is these subgroups that this article will now delve into, because tobacco advertising targets these various groups in different ways. Marlboro has actively advertised much more towards men over the past thirty years due to a change in its social status. The ads below show some of the assorted rugged cowboys that represented Marlboro cigarettes to a man. This drive for virility was due to the fact that Marlboro has a higher percentage of female smokers than any other brand. A study published in 1993 found that “many young women saw Marlboro Lights as a brand for the casual, outgoing person who gets along with anyone.” Perhaps due to the large number of women smoking Marlboros, the male customer base was much smaller. It began to acquire the role of a women's cigarette, which pushed Marlboro to represent a more virile cigarette. The image on the left is from the 1970s, when Marlboro portrayed a much rougher image of a man. The image is that of a solitary cowboy with a hard look. He has a simple background, which pays full attention to the cowboy himself. He has the reins in his hand so he's riding too. This image was used to illustrate what a "real man" looks like. He was tough and strong, as well as being a man who can work to get the job done. After analyzing the two images, the image on the right really helps show the effects social patterns have on advertising. This image is much friendlier in its presentation. The three cowboys appear to be talking and smiling as they carry their saddles. They stand in a brightly colored field and the sun is shining dazzlingly. These various changes have been brought about thanks to market research that constantly tries to stay abreast of new trends. The second image dates back to the late 1990s, when younger people's values ​​shifted towards a stronger sense of community and away from the harsh individualism that previously dominated. As social norms changed, so did the Marlboro cowboy. Once stoic and reserved, the Marlboro Cowboy began to socialize and smile to create more of a feelingrelaxed and accessible. Until the 1920s, tobacco advertising was tailored almost exclusively to men. The ads showed men doing manly things and all around being what a man should be. However, advertising underwent a significant change when advertising aimed at women also became the norm. Initially, advertisements portrayed smoking as a new symbol of freedom for women. Cigarette ads showed women smoking in public with their “torches of freedom.” Over the next forty years, these ads developed into more of a depiction of what you should look and act like as a woman. In the 1960s, Virginia Slim's "You've come a Long Way, Baby" campaign began circulating first. This ad campaign always showed a strong, slim, independent woman who smoked. The idea behind these advertisements was to combine the two main themes for women in the 1960s; freedom and weight control. The Virginia Slims ad shows an attractive, capable woman standing alone. The background is empty and gives more attention to the woman herself. She has no man next to her in the advertisement because she shows her independence by being alone. Another tobacco company that advertises to women is Satin. This brand was created in 1982 as competition for the manlier cigarette companies. Satin advertises primarily to women in an effort to create a larger female smoking population. The advertisements used by Satin generally target attractive, educated working women who enjoy smoking cigarettes. A study conducted in the early 1980s showed that Satin was trying to create a new ideology about smoking. They did this by appealing to “A woman's sensual nature… The desire to pamper herself… The desire to relax with a cigarette… The generally repressed dream of relaxing in luxury.” The idea behind the campaign was to tell women that it was okay to take a break and treat yourself every now and then. The advertisements usually show an attractive, slim young woman, always very well dressed. In the ad above, she is laughing and having fun with a handsome man in a suit. This gives the impression that women of higher class and status also smoke. These advertisements promote self-indulgence and relaxation, while projecting an aura of class and whimsy. Ever since tobacco advertising truly became mainstream in the early 1900s, there has been a key target group. This group is classified as "young adults" and ranges in age from 12 to 25. This group itself is further subdivided with the 12 to 18 age group receiving the most influence from tobacco advertisements. These young adults are targeted by tobacco companies because they are going through a period of experimentation and transition into adulthood. It is during this time that many teenagers try cigarettes for the first time and become addicted. The most important takeaway for these young adults, however, is that the brand they first start smoking when they are young will most likely become the brand they continue to smoke as they get older. Thanks to the addictive qualities of nicotine, cigarette companies are able to create potentially lifelong customers. This is what creates the constant struggle to market to this group of young adults, without marketing directly to them. Advertisements that target young adults have a few key ingredients. The first and most important thing about almost any advertisement aimed at the younger age group is that the people in the advertisement are having fun. This is themost important point that tobacco companies want to convey with their advertising. They want the young adults who will become the next generation of smokers to see these ads and believe that smoking is a fun and interesting thing to do. As can be seen in both images above, the people in the advertisements are usually around college age and are generally fit and attractive. Tobacco companies obviously cannot run ads where children under the age of eighteen smoke, so this is the next best thing. Often these young adults look up to older college-aged people who, in a sense, set the standard for how they should look and act. It is through advertisements like these that tobacco companies are still able to indirectly market to young adults in an effort to create new customers. In 1970, Congress took the first real step toward banning tobacco advertising by passing the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act. This law began on January 2, 1971 and prohibited cigarette advertising on television and radio. This has led most tobacco companies to switch to print advertising primarily through billboards, newspapers and magazines. The next big step came in 1984, when Congress passed the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act requiring tobacco distributors to label all cigarette advertisements and packages with a warning from the Surgeon General. The death of mass media cigarette advertising finally came in 1997, when the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement banned all outdoor cigarette advertising, on billboards and on public transportation. Subsequently, most billboards that previously displayed tobacco ads now displayed anti-smoking messages. The real end to public tobacco advertising came in 2010 with the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which banned tobacco companies from displaying their logos on apparel products, as well as sponsoring sports and music. Banning tobacco advertising has been a prolonged struggle with tobacco companies fighting every step of the way. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) states that “advertising must be truthful and not misleading…advertisers must have evidence to support their claims…and advertisements cannot be unfair.” The FTC characterizes an advertisement as unfair if it “causes or is likely to cause substantial harm to a consumer that a consumer could not reasonably avoid; and is not outweighed by the benefit to consumers.” Initially, tobacco companies were simply forced to provide the truth about the harm that can be caused by tobacco use. The adverts were later banned because they were shown to be unfair regarding the lack of benefits associated with tobacco use. In response to every act and ban imposed on tobacco advertisements, tobacco companies simply shifted their focus to the means of spreading the word. about their product. From television, to billboards, to newspapers, to the use of sports and even clothing; Tobacco advertising has permeated the American mass media. Over the past fifty years, however, every one of these ways of advertising has been outlawed, so that tobacco advertising has only one place to continue to thrive. Federal law states that there shall be no advertisements in “any electronic communications medium subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).” The problem is that the FCCdoes not currently regulate the Internet. There are currently no explicit restrictions on online tobacco advertising, and this has led to a massive boom in Internet marketing used by tobacco companies. Over the past fifteen years, Internet use has expanded rapidly and efficiently, so much so that the vast majority of Americans now have access to the Internet and use it almost every day. Over time, it has become the main source of entertainment and information for most families. The Internet also provides a new advertising medium for tobacco products. In recent years, all the major tobacco companies have created websites promoting their tobacco products and brands. Reported expenses for advertising on corporate websites and general Internet marketing are increasing exponentially. Advertising costs exploded from approximately $125,000 in 1998, to a reported $26.7 million in 2012. In just the two years between 2006 and 2008, online advertising costs more than doubled; going from $8.3 million to $17.8 million. Since 2009, large tobacco companies have steadily increased spending and stayed above the $25 million per year minimum. This new venue for advertising has led to much speculation about how to regulate tobacco companies' online advertising. Currently there is no real regulation of Internet marketing. This presents the same problems that have arisen from all previous forms of media used by tobacco companies to advertise their products. In fact, there are even more factors to consider when it comes to online advertising. The Internet has once again provided a means for tobacco companies to indirectly market to young Americans by creating a more exciting experience. Many websites use contests, games and videos to attract a younger audience. As demonstrated by the Pew Internet Project, 92% of teenagers use the Internet daily. Additionally, more than half of that number go online multiple times a day, largely in part compared to the staggering 73% of teens who now have access to a smartphone. As tobacco companies use new ways to attract younger generations, it becomes the public's job to dissuade young Americans from using tobacco. Teenagers and younger children are the easiest and most profitable target for tobacco companies. Largely due to the enormous amount of funds that tobacco companies invest in Internet marketing, young Americans still regularly see many tobacco advertisements. These companies claim that their advertising does not influence children under the age of eighteen, but it is clear that their advertisements are having a major effect on young audiences. Unfortunately, many studies claim that approximately 90% of smokers try their first cigarette before the age of eighteen. It is also during this initial stage of smoking that brand loyalty is formed. Phillip Morris explains this phenomenon in United States v. Phillip Morris: "Today's teenager is tomorrow's potential repeat customer, and the vast majority of smokers begin smoking while still in their teens..." It's easy to identify by simply looking at the American phenomenon. young people, how much these tobacco advertisements come into play. The 1989 U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health outlined four direct and three indirect mechanisms through which tobacco advertising and promotion may increase tobacco use. The direct mechanisms are: (1) Encourage children or young adults to experiment with and initiate tobacco products.