Smoking Influences: Why Do We Start Smoking?

As we all know, smoking is serious. Not only in terms of health but also financially speaking. In the 20th Century, about 100 million people died from smoking¹. Tobacco use in fact killed more people in that Century than World War II with a total of 75 million deaths². According to the World Health Organization, around 8 million people die prematurely every year from tobacco use³. Little do we know that each year, the tobacco industry spends billions of dollars on marketing cigarettes⁴. Even though we know that smoking leads to disease, disability, and harms nearly every organ of the body.

Of course, we will not usually notice the damages from smoking unless we intentionally look for it. Why is that? It turns out that we only get to see what the tobacco industry allows us to see, those billions of dollars are not only spent on marketing cigarettes but also on lobbying. Since the strengthening of tobacco control measures, the tobacco industry has employed various tactics in order to bypass tobacco control regulations. Particularly in developing countries where they are still in a slow application process⁵.

By being repeatedly exposed to prominent figures who have positive experiences by smoking, vicarious learning occurs leading us to believe that it is safe and enjoyable⁶. However, it is by far not the case. We normalized the act of smoking but not its serious consequences such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). But why really would we ever start smoking?

Why We Start Smoking

Before the mass manufacturing of cigarettes by the exploitation of the bonsack machine in the early 1880s, cigarettes were mostly rolled by hand. Therefore, smoking was a meaning of status as cigarettes were considered a luxury item to have and consume. They were mostly owned by the urban elite until they became massively produced and popularized through their marketing⁷. However, following the First World War, cigarette smoking was mostly associated with masculinity as soldiers would often smoke and ads were mostly exposing glorified men. While seeing women smoking was still a taboo at the time, the association of the tobacco industry with public relations professionals fostered global acceptance and even the glorification of women who smoked as a symbol of a new market opening². Women who light up cigarettes as a symbol of empowerment were often used in cigarette advertisements.

Cigarette ads became very popular in the 20th Century with slogans, mascots and sayings such as: "More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette" from Camel or "Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet” from Lucky Strike⁸. We would see them in the streets, on TV, hear them on the radio and so on whether it was a man, a woman or a couple smoking on the ad.

Cigarette ads were very efficient and adaptive, particularly after a link was found between lung cancer and smoking by UK scientist Sir Richard Doll in 1951⁸. Cigarette ads were promoting health benefits, doctor recommendations and other characteristics in order to be seen as “safe”. Whether it was the size, the taste or the health concerns, cigarette ads always had an answer. For example, with the filtered cigarettes, not to mention the manipulation of research results by inserting holes in the filters of “light cigarettes” to falsely claim that they are safer⁹!

We are constantly influenced by external factors (strangers, friends, family) and bombarded with advertisements regardless of their form. Cigarette advertisement in addition to all other factors contributed to many of us starting smoking. But these advertisements were banned, on April 1st of 1970, by Richard Nixon following more scientific studies on the effects of smoking. So what made us start smoking after that? And what makes us do it today?

If I had to think about the main leader of product placement on the planet, I would say the tobacco industry. How many movies, music videos, video games or ads have you seen where there is not one cigarette being smoked or a lighter being used (given its strong connotation to smoking)? That’s right... The problem is that a lot of people think that smoking is ‘cool’, or at least thought so when they started. This social construct was crafted by our heroes of mainstream cinema on the television lighting cigarettes2. We have been taught all our lives that smoking was ‘cool’, ‘badass’ and ‘rebellious’ ever since we were children without realizing it. And by the time tobacco control was applied, most of the people we knew had already started.

As a matter of fact, the Surgeon General’s Report confirmed that exposure to onscreen smoking in movies causes young people to start smoking¹⁰. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids claims that the reason why tobacco companies target kids is because their business model depends on it as 90% of adult smokers start at 18 years of age or younger. Since a lot of smokers die from tobacco-related illnesses each year, these methods are meant to generate ‘replacement smokers’¹¹.

The association with being ‘cool’ and ‘rebellious’ was therefore enhanced by the movie culture. As a consequence, many people developed an emotional connection to cigarettes, which prevents us from perceiving cigarettes for what they truly are: tobacco and a bunch of chemicals wrapped in a piece of paper with a filter at the end².

Now that we know what made many of us start smoking in the first place, some might not feel concerned at all as they have never seen a tobacco advertisement or as they realize that those don’t apply to them. This can be due to the subliminal advertising style leaving our conscience clear but our subconscious influenced by the product such as Coca Cola ads during the 1960’s in movie theaters to generate more sales¹². As another example, when tobacco labeling was banned from Formula 1, Malboro created a barcode on Ferrari which at high speed would look like its label, thus influencing our behaviours subconsciously¹³. The reason why some may not feel concerned at all might also be a matter of demographics.

Tobacco’s New Market

As previously mentioned, the tactics employed by the tobacco industry in order to bypass tobacco control regulations mostly occur in developing countries. According to the World Population Review, Indonesia figures in the top 10 countries with the highest smoking rates¹⁴. As a result, it is common to find cigarette ads in the street or on local TV. It is also hard to find an event that is not sponsored by the tobacco industry.

According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, one-third of Indonesians smoke some form of tobacco, with 63% of men and 5% of women¹⁵. The position of tobacco in movies and advertisements in Indonesia, along with the reduced price of cigarettes compared to Western countries caused a lot of young people to start smoking, usually before the age of 18 years old². What was once a denounced practice in the West 70 years ago is now being applied in developing countries. Every year, more than 225,000 Indonesians are killed by tobacco-caused diseases¹⁶.

In the West, cigarettes are often seen as vintage and often take part in video games and movies. Cigarette advertising is more discreet in Western countries through product placement and free advertisement as a result of the past relationship we have with cigarettes. The current cigarette advertising is mostly done in developing countries as the vulnerability of governments are seen as assets by the tobacco industry to maximise their profits and create ‘replacement smokers’. Awareness campaigns are now emerging from the realization of how serious the consequences are.

As new smoking alternatives are emerging with the progress of technology, many new challenges also emerge, for instance with e-cigarettes. Indeed, the industry of e-cigarettes is using the same marketing used to attract youths to smoke electronic cigarettes¹⁷. Once again, a lot of young people start vaping because they are curious about the product¹⁸, plus when they have never smoked before. The fact that e-cigarettes contain flavours is attractive to the younger generation¹⁹, not to mention the controversies related to the early advertisements of e-cigarettes by Juul and others where young people were also targeted.

We are very conscious of the consequences that our line of products can have here at Ditch Labs. This is why we intend to follow a regulatory plan and sell our solutions in pharmacies instead of over the counter. The DitchPen™ is a device that facilitates smoking cessation for smokers who wish to quit, not for people to start smoking. Our team will make sure not to repeat the same mistakes that have been done in the past (if these were actual mistakes).

References

¹ Definition of EPIDEMIC. (n.d.). Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America’s Most-Trusted Online Dictionary. Retrieved June 28, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epidemic.

¹ Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2013, May 23). Smoking. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/smoking.

² McIntosh, J. (2020, June 25). Why You Think Smoking Is Cool. Media Vs Reality. https://www.mediavsreality.com/mediavsreality2/2020/3/7/the-truth-about-smoking.

³ World Health Organization. (n.d.). Tobacco. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco.

⁴ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, December 10). Fast Facts and Fact Sheets. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/index.htm.

⁵ Mackay, J. M., Bettcher, D. W., Minhas, R., & Schotte, K. (2012). Successes and new emerging challenges in tobacco control: Addressing the vector. Tobacco Control, 21(2), 77–79. https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050433.

⁶ Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1963). Vicarious Reinforcement and Imitative Learning. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 67, 601–607. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0045550.

⁷ Hilton, M. J. (n.d.). The age of the cigarette. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/smoking-tobacco/The-age-of-the-cigarette.

⁸ Rodrigues, J. (2009, March 31). When smoking was cool, cheap, legal and socially acceptable. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/apr/01/tobacco-industry-marketing.

⁹ Thompson, F. (2005). La fraude du siècle: Les cigarettes « légères ». Promotion & Education, 12(4_suppl), 32–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/10253823050120040111.

¹⁰ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2012

¹¹ Still Seeking Replacements - How Big Tobacco Targets Kids Today. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (n.d.). https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/microsites/replacements/.

¹² Smarandescu, L., & Shimp, T. A. (2015). Drink coca-cola, eat popcorn, and choose powerade: Testing the limits of subliminal persuasion. Marketing Letters, 26(4), 715–726. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-014-9294-1/.

¹³ Grant-Braham, B., & Britton, J. (2012). Motor racing, tobacco company sponsorship, barcodes and alibi marketing. Tobacco Control: An International Journal, 21(6), 529–535. https://doi.org/10.1136/tc.2011.043448.

¹⁴ Smoking Rates By Country 2021. (n.d.). https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/smoking-rates-by-country.

¹⁵ International Resource Center. Indonesia: Overview | Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids: International Resource Center. (2010). https://web.archive.org/web/20100611004049/http://tobaccofreecenter.org/resources_country/indonesia.

¹⁶ Indonesia. Tobacco Atlas. (n.d.). https://tobaccoatlas.org/country/indonesia/.

¹⁷ Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, June 30). Quick Facts on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Young People. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/Quick-Facts-on-the-Risks-of-E-cigarettes-for-Kids-Teens-and-Young-Adults.html.

¹⁸ US Department of Health and Human Services. E-cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2016.

¹⁹ Ambrose, B. K., Day, H. R., Rostron, B., Conway, K. P., Borek, N., Hyland, A., & Villanti, A. C. (2015). Flavored Tobacco Product Use Among US Youth Aged 12–17 Years, 2013–2014. JAMA, 314(17), 1871–1873. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2015.13802.