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The Truths of Tobacco

By Tess Davis

 

I’ve chosen tobacco because tobacco has not gotten old in practice. It has never gone out of season. Nicotine will never go out of style. This advertisement was prominent to me because it embodies the fact that tobacco will never be boring to its smokers and it will continue to take on new forms of being used. Here, I have exemplified the Camel Crush. Now the cigarette can have the option to be either just a cigarette or a menthol infused cigarette at any time during that particular smoking.

 

As tobacco smoking has taken on new forms, this has kept it an exciting part of global culture. Nicotine, one of the most used legal drugs around the world, has captured the attention and lungs of many. Its ability to become so widely used has come from the false advertising that has held tobacco so highly, the lack of information people actually have on the ingredients and the ever evolving additives that companies are not only mixing with tobacco products, but additionally substituting tobacco products with. As we will discuss Camel Cigarettes, their innovation will reinvent the practices of smoking tobacco through rolling cigarettes and through pipe smoking. Camel Cigarettes will inadvertently be related to the invention of things like chew and vaping as Camel proved that consuming tobacco products could be altered to compliment different forms of life and different times. The evolution of Camel Cigarettes has been alive and thriving for over a hundred years taking the lives of many as it grows for the interest of capitalistic profit.  

 

According to R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company by Barry McGee, Camel Cigarettes was born in 1913 and fathered by R.J. Reynolds and his growing R.J. Reynolds tobacco industry. Raised by a tobacco farmer, Reynolds was introduced to the tobacco industry at a very young age, the result eventually being the R.J. Tobacco Company. By growing up in the smoking marketplace this led to innovations such as adding artificial sweetener to chewing tobacco and inventing the first pre-rolled cigarettes. Reynolds’ mission was to cash in on the cigarette marketplace by appealing to the public with this new and innovative pre-rolled cigarette that had taken a lot of the work out of smoking. Beforehand patrons had rolled their own. As Reynolds had died in 1918, his Tobacco Company lived on through his brother.

 

One of the gimmicks for selling Camel products down the line included catering to younger people. R.J. Reynolds even stated that, “Realistically, if our company is to survive and prosper, over the long term, we must get our share of the youth market” (Camel Cigarettes). In the 1970’s due to the their competition, Marlboro, they wanted to target the age group of 14 year olds to 24 year olds and even thought of targeting this age group through the appeal of comics. In 1988 this target for younger smokers continued with the creation of Joe Camel, a cartoon camel who was made to appear with sunglasses that often gave off a cool and stealthy appearance that was often depicted in casinos and bars. This cartoon cigarette prop in turn increased the proportion of young users. The proportion of cigarette users is still majorly younger patrons.

 

As this ad was found online and the internet has become a large part of how young people today interact, young people are more likely to see it. Due to the fact that younger people are targeted in the cigarette market, this ad is particularly intriguing for several reasons. As noted earlier, the link to coupons appeals to those who lack financial stability which is experienced by a lot of youth today. This in turn, reals them in. Then with the contrast of loud colors, specifically the red in the word “BOLD”, this targets the idea that youth today and wild and free. It is as if the cigarette is telling people that it will make them more bold. It also challenges the idea of trying something new verses those who dislike change. It gives people the option of being bold, to crush the Camel Crush, but it is not forced and one does not have to do it if they don’t want to. It in turn is a comforting cigarette, for those stuck between wanting to be outgoing but also wanting to not change.

 

On the ad, in the bottom left corner in small text it reads “Surgeon General’s Warning: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy.” With this disclaimer, on the ad or on a packet of cigarettes for that matter, they do not list what is actually in a cigarette besides tobacco. What may have started as a mixture of Turkish and Virginia tobacco in Turkish rolling paper as Barry states, has now transformed into something far more complex.

 

According to BBC Worldwide’s What’s in a cigarette?, cigarettes contain 599 additives which include the following: ammonia, arsenic, benzene, butane, carbon monoxide, cyanide, lead and many other substances. As with the Camel Crushes, there is a small capsule of menthol added to the top of the cigarette for its users to squeeze then resulting in a release of menthol. So, in the end, cigarette smokers know that cigarettes cause these dangerous results, however, do not typically know what goes into them. Of course these additives aren’t good for those who use them. Not only are a good portion of these additives poisonous, but also addictive. Essentially these additives destroy the body, but also create an addiction to them. People grow to need them mentally, physiologically and physically. The body needs them, but then they become a way to battle stress and life’s mental obstacles. It becomes a way to relax. The ad focuses on how it is the same tobacco as it was before, however, people think that it is just tobacco and disregard the additives that could be included. The ad is essentially disregarding the components that makes smoking these cigarettes even more harmful to the body than just smoking straight tobacco. The ad is a misrepresentation of what is actually in these cigarettes.

 

As noted previously this ad uses various things to catch the attention of its users. In advertising using colors that oppose each other, like blue and red, catch the eye of the patron. The human eye is attracted to what sticks out. Blue and red do not go together. The eye notices that. As also previously noted, the financial perspective also attractive to users. People are more attracted to things that they can save money on. They see “coupon” and they are even more intrigued. People are also more attracted to advertisements that capture aspects of being more outgoing. They read “BOLD” and they have this idea that by smoking the Camel Crush, this will make them more bold than they were. It also attracts the cigarette smokers that like to have options with what they smoke, menthol or nonmenthol. Also noted before, this ad creates the idea that those who smoke it will only be smoking a mixture of tobacco and menthol. It does not outline the additives.

 

As I have actually smoked this type of cigarette, I did enjoy the menthol capsule, however, it is still a cigarette. If I had to recommend a cigarette or any form of tobacco to a friend of family member, I would hands down always recommend American Spirit. Their tobacco does not include any of the additives that other cigarette brands sneak in. Besides their menthol cigarettes that contain a mixture of menthol and tobacco the American Spirit tobacco has grown more popular over time due to its simplicity and target towards exposing other tobacco companies that use poisonous additives. Due to a new generation of people who have taken a popular liking to vaping and alternatives to tobacco with additives, American Spirit has been marked as one of the more honest tobacco brands on the market.

 

However, by stating this, I am in no way saying that American Spirit is safer to smoke. Tobacco is still tobacco and is in no way good for you. On the package for American Spirit cigarettes, one will find it states, “100% free of chemical additives.” If one wants to avoid all the additives though, American Spirit is the way to go.  As modern times has given consumers more opportunity to divulge into the products that they take a liking to, this has altogether given the populace more choices and also the ability to make the better choice. If someone were to see this advertisement and want a more honest option, one should look towards the American Spirit menthol options even if they do not include the Crush.

References:

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (2013). Camel Cigarettes: A Long History of Targeting Kids. [PDF file]. Washington, DC: n.a. Retrieved from https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/microsites/camel/Camel_History.pdf

 

McGee, Barry. (2006). R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Encyclopedia of North Carolina. Retrieved from r-j-reynolds-tobacco-company

 

What’s in a cigarette? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/sci_tech/features/health/tobaccotrial/inacigarette599.htm