#32: A Doctor’s Favorite Cigarette
This vintage ad from the 1950s is a perfect example of something you don’t see anymore. We hate to say it, but this is a situation where people definitely should not have listened to their doctors. This Camel cigarette ad shows hearty endorsement from doctors, which seems out of this world today.
Back in the day, cigarettes were actually considered healthy! Tobacco companies would pay healthcare professionals to endorse and push cigarettes as a healthy way to cure throat irritations. Studies from the mid-1950s proved that tobacco caused lung cancer, so Big Tobacco had to pivot away from using doctors in their ads. However, tobacco companies continued to deny the negative health effects of their products well into the 1990s.