Cigarette Advertising in Medical Journals

The Unfiltered Truth About Smoking and Health

By the 1930s, cigarette advertisements were appearing regularly in medical journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and The New England Journal of Medicine in the U.S. and The Lancet and the British Medical Journal in the United Kingdom. Until 1953, JAMA accepted cigarette advertisements that encouraged physicians to recommend certain brands to their patients and that touted health benefits for filtered cigarettes and for brands with less nicotine. [The Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society has over 50 complete issues of the Journal of the American Medical Association with cigarette advertisements from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, as well as complete issues of The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, the Medical Journal of Australia, and other journals with cigarette ads.]

1937 05 01 NYSJM V. 37 No 9 Chesterfield Ad After a Mans Heart

“After a man’s heart…When smokers find out the good things Chesterfields give them, Nothing else will do”

Advertisement by the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company for Chesterfield cigarettes
New York State Journal of Medicine, vol. 37, no. 9, front and back covers
May 1, 1937

1937 11 27 JAMA V. 109 No 22 PM Ad

“A MAJOR ADVANCEMENT IN CIGARETTES”

Advertisement by Philip Morris & Co. Ltd., Inc.
Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 109, no. 22, page 21
November 27, 1937

1937 04 10 JAMA V. 108 No 15 PM Ad

“LET YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE GUIDE YOU”

Advertisement by Philip Morris & Co. Ltd., Inc.
Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 108, no. 15, page 23
April 10, 1937

1937 03 13 JAMA V. 108 No 11 PM Ad

“DON’T TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT!”

Advertisement by Philip Morris & Co. Ltd., Inc.
Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 108, no. 11, page 33
March 13, 1937

1937 07 The Laryngoscope PM Ad Following the Leader wm

“FOLLOWING THE LEADER IN CHOOSING A CIGARETTE”

Advertisement by Philip Morris & Co. Ltd., Inc. opposite lead scientific article
The Laryngoscope, vol. 47, no. 7, page 8
July 1937

1938 05 JAMS Front Cover Chesterfield Ad

“MEDICAL STUDENT TUBERCULOSIS”/ “…and my new cigarette is Chesterfield”

Advertisement by Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company
The Journal of the Association of Medical Students, vol. 2, no. 8, front and back covers
May 1938

1939 04 JAMS V. 3 No 7 Chesterfield Ad

“The Right Combination does it…”

Advertisement by Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company for Chesterfield cigarettes
The Journal of the Association of Medical Students, vol. 3, no. 7, back cover
April 1939

“If your Patient Must Smoke…”

Advertisement by the Health Cigar Co. Inc. for Sano denicotinized cigarettes
Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 109, no. 22, page 31
November 27, 1937

1940 04 04 JAMA V. 114 No 14 Kool Ad

“THE OPERATION IS A SUCCESS!”

Advertisement by Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company for KOOL cigarettes
Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 114, no. 14, page 37
April 4, 1940

1942 02 21 JAMA V. 118 No 8 PM Ad

“WHEN TREATING FOR CONGESTION OF THE UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT WHY NOT MAKE THIS TEST?”

Advertisement by Philip Morris & Co. Ltd., Inc.
Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 118, no. 8, page 59
February 21, 1942

1942 04 11 JAMA Camel Ad

“SCIENTIFIC TESTS INDICATE THAT THE SLOWER-BURNING CIGARETTE MEANS LESS NICOTINE IN THE SMOKE!”

Advertisement by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Camel cigarettes
Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 118, no. 15, page 33
April 11, 1942

1944 06 10 JAMA Denicotea Ad

“It lifts the ban on cigarettes”

Advertisement by Alfred Dunhill for Denicotea cigarette holder
Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 125, no. 6, page 48
June 10, 1944

1950 05 06 JAMA V. 143 No 1 Parliament Ad

“A tip to Smart Smokers”

Advertisement by Benson & Hedges, New York for Parliament cigarettes
Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 143, no. 1, page 66
May 6, 1950

“PROOF WITH ONE PUFF?”

Advertisement by Philip Morris & Co. Ltd., Inc.
The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 248, no. 1, page iii
January 1, 1953