Camel Cigarette Ads Score Big with Teen Girls

An ad campaign for Camel No. 9 cigarettes scored high marks with a curious demographic - teen girls.

According to a study in the medical journal Pediatrics, and reported on by the USA Today, Camel ads in magazines like Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Glamour were popular with girls age 12 to 16.

Camel launched its No. 9 cigarette in 2007 and ran promotional giveaways which included flavored lip balm, cell phone jewelry, purses and wristbands, the study said.

Since 1998, tobacco companies have agreed not to target children with their advertising. The cigarette's maker, R.J. Reynolds, insists the campaign abided by that agreement, citing the fact that 85 percent of those magazines' readers were over 18.

The study, published Monday, consisted of interviews with 1,063 adolescents.

According to the data, 22 percent of teen girls listed the Camel ads as their favorite in 2008, a year after the campaign was launched. That figure was double the number of girls who favored camel in four previous interviews and suggests the new ads were responsible for the increased approval rating.

The study suggests there's a link between being able to remember cigarette ads and smoking - non-smoking kids who can recall ads are 50 percent more likely to take up the habit.

Boys' attitudes toward the ads weren't affected by Camel's campaign, according to the study.

David Howard, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds, said the cigarette maker pulled print ads in 2008.

[magnumdr]

Lets ban smoking and drinking and everytiing that might get us sick. Im all for this type of Government control over all of us. I also think that our Government should cater to all illegal aliens here. It would also be a good idea for our Government to stay out of our personal lives and start trying to fix the real problems in America, like jobs, people loosing their homes, and the debt of America today. Stay out of all of our personal lives and dont take away the freedom to choose. We are getting to close to being controlled by our Government in to many ways. I think that the Government likes to keep us all under their control and it is not good for our personal freedoms.

[magnumdr]

Lets ban smoking and drinking and everytiing that might get us sick. Im all for this type of Government control over all of us. I also think that our Government should cater to all illegal aliens here. It would also be a good idea for our Government to stay out of our personal lives and start trying to fix the real problems in America, like jobs, people loosing their homes, and the debt of America today. Stay out of all of our personal lives and dont take away the freedom to choose. We are getting to close to being controlled by our Government in to many ways. I think that the Government likes to keep us all under their control and it is not good for our personal freedoms.

[steven_rodgers]

i do not smoke, nor have I ever, but The propaganda being pushed around, and the way people over react to Smoking makes me want to start. I am sick and tired of people wanting to ban smoking.
It's NOT the TOBACCO, it's the chemicals they put in it. So how about focus on the problem and not the scapegoat. Tobacco has been used for hundreds of years ( if not longer ). Everyone from Europeans to Native Americans ( you know, those guys everyone like to fantasize about as being Spiritual, and one with nature...)
If you want to stop the over use of harmful chemicals in Tobacco products, then by all means, but I am sick of this anti-smoking BS propaganda that is being shoved down societies throat. I live in LA, where if you light up 100 feet from some self righteous DBag, he's screaming and calling you a murderer and Nazi. But then he'll turn around and sit for an hour in bumper to bumper traffic, without saying a word ( if you fail to see the humor in that, your not thinking ). Most of the people out here who want to ban smoking, turn around and light up a joint. What do you think will happen if/when Pot is made legal nation wide ( not just this state thing that's going on, which has opened up a whole other can of worms). That's right, The same people that make those evil cigarettes, will be rolling out cartons of pre rolled joints at 7-11, and they will put the SAME chemicals they put in Tobacco in Marijuana.
So shut up with "Tobacco is evil" No, it's not. Tobacco is a plant, same as marijuana. It's the Chemicals they put in them that are harmful. Do something about THAT, and leave the plant alone. - and stop buying into all the scare tactic BS. Half of those "studies" are false, and contain manipulated data. Your NOT going to get Lung cancer, bc the guy in the house next to you smokes. stop being sheep and think for your selves.

[Empire-George-]

by rightbehind March 15, 2010 3:19 PM EDT

Ewe! Smoking stinks!
_________

not these, they are light and luscious, in a chokey kind of way....LOL

[fleabag75]

And we're supposed to try and provide college educations for these idiots??? People, people,,,, save your money! If this doesn't show you what a waste school levy money is, nothing will. You'd think in an intelligent society, after all this time and looking at costs, you would think cigarettes would be a thing of the past. God help us!

[m0u5y]

You people who fall for this trash are either ignorant or insane. But, regardless, someone has to protect those who can't protect themselves. You would do the same for a mentally handicapped person, right?

[brianbwb2011]

It is ironic that the greatest contributions to the history of American television, the "golden age" as it was known, was sponsored by tobacco.

Cronkite, Serling, Hitchcock, Gleason, Sullivan, Desilu, all the great writers, actors, and other performers that made history, did so because the long term sponsorship by tobacco afforded the opportunity to develop new ideas.

It is noteworthy that the decline in the quality of American mass media closely tracks the banning of tobacco ads.

As for Camels, the only cigarette nastier is the French "Gaulloise", even the Chinese in Beijing smoke better.

[rightbehind]

Ewe! Smoking stinks!

[Lawyers-Guns-n-Money-01]

Only if your olfactory lobes are in working order...and depending what you smoke.

[erasmus111]

If you aren't going to ban cigarettes, knowing that they cause cancer, then the least you can do is ban the ads.

Canada hasn't had cigarette or alcohol ads on tv, or in magazines, for years.

[erasmus111]

We also have "sin taxes" on tobacco products now, to make them less affordable.

[erasmus111]

by djberson March 15, 2010 2:28 PM EDT
Why should we ban ads for tobacco alone when there are hundreds of other dangerous products like fast-food and Toyotas that advertise freely?


You must be a smoker, huh?

If I eat fast food, I am only hurting myself. If I smoke, I'm hurting the people around me.

And I look at it this way, if we eliminate that, it's one less thing to worry about.

And the faulty Toyotas will be removed from the road, will they not?

[catherine195]

ooooooo, pretty packaging - now here's a reason for tween girls to smoke! Leave it to camel drivers....