Lets talk about cigarettes - Blog #4 Alissa Carlson

 Since the 1930's, smoking has turned from sexy to deadly. Cigarettes have been depicted as a sign of glitz and glamour, sophistication, and sexual allure. It was highly popular amongst Americans and as many as one out of two smoked cigarettes. During the 1930's, many Americans smoking were unaware of the significant health effects as they had yet to develop. After World War II, there were major developments in the effects of smoking cigarettes and an increased risk of lung cancer was acknowledged. Some of the most famous magazine ads and commercials depicted doctors in their white coats smoking their 'favorite' cigarettes, Camel (as seen in the picture beside this). This picture (and others just like it) suggest that if a doctor doesn't have a problem with smoking a Camel cigarette, then you shouldn't either because you should trust your doctor. Not only is this incredibly interesting and today there is more common-sense about smoking cigarettes, but the depiction of a doctor versus a regular person suggests that it really must be okay. We as Americans put a lot of respect in our doctors and we are trust that they will put us in the right position and help us feel better when we are not. Today, I can imagine that you would have a much more difficult time with finding a doctor on a Camel or Marlboro endorsing them. There is much more statistical proof and evidence on the effects that come from smoking cigarettes. Not going to lie, this is definitely a disturbing image. If I was looking at this in 1935, I would think that it's cool or "yeah, I'm going to go buy a pack!" But today I am looking at it in almost disgust. However, it wasn't until the 1980's did scientists discover that nicotine is actually extremely addictive. A lot of the tobacco companies denied these claims because if people started to believe that, they would smoke less cigarettes and these companies would make less money. They actually went as far as to put more or extra nicotine in cigarettes so there would be an even more difficult chance of quitting. This is quite savage. 

To conclude, it's pretty obvious (or at least we hope it is) that smoking is not good for your health. Actually, it can literally kill you if you let it. This clearly was not the case during the early 1930's up until the 1980's with the understanding of nicotine, and today there is a better understanding of what exactly is in that Camel cigarette and what it can do to you if you smoke too many. However, we can acknowledge that smoking cigarettes aren't all the glitz and glamour that the 1942 film Casablanca suggested it was. With hard data and statistical evidence on the effects of smoking (and secondhand smoke), there is more common-sense that come with smoking cigarettes and even help  for those with addiction. We can agree to disagree that there is a serious difference in how smoking is depicted today.

http://adage.com/article/news/rewind-1949-cigarette-spot-declares-doctors-smoke-camels/236635/