When Smoking was Chic

Watch this compilation of pre-1970 Canadian television ads to see how people got hooked on smoking to be "cool."

Posted March 10, 2014
A 1937 ad for McGill University cigarettes.The cigarettes were sold as a fundraiser.
McGill University Archives
Tobacco advertising is today severely restricted in Canada but that wasn’t always the case.

Before 1970, tobacco was heavily marketed on radio, television and in print.

Women’s magazines contained many ads for cigarettes made to appeal to women.

The typical cigarette-smoker was portrayed as young, attractive, cool, and cosmopolitan, as this compilation of pre-1970 cigarette ads shows:

 

 

A longer article on this topic appeared in the April-May 2014 issue of Canada’s History magazine. Entitled “When Smoking Was Chic,” it was written by Sharon Anne Cook. 

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