CSTS NYC MTA Logo

Big Tobacco in the Big Apple

How New York City Became the Heart of the Tobacco Industry
…and Anti Smoking Activism

The Theatre

Smoking in the Lobby and Lounges Only (0:56)

BTBA NYC

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes/ Chesterfield advertisement

GPB cover

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes/ Chesterfield advertisement

Ziegfeld Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1949

Wish You Were Here/ Chesterfield advertisement

Chesterfield Playbill WishYouWereHere

Wish You Were Here/ Chesterfield advertisement

Imperial Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1953

The Odd Couple/ Chesterfield advertisement

Odd Couple cover

The Odd Couple/ Chesterfield advertisement

Plymouth Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1965

Oliver/ L&M advertisement

Oliver cover

Oliver/ L&M advertisement

Imperial Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1963

Metropolitan Opera/ Benson & Hedges 100’s advertisement

MetMarch7172 cover

Metropolitan Opera/ Benson & Hedges 100’s advertisement

Program, front and back covers
March 1972

Metropolitan Opera/ Kent advertisement

Met1962 1963

Metropolitan Opera/ Kent advertisement

Program, front and back covers
1962-1963

Fiddler on the Roof/ Silva Thins advertisement

Fiddler cover

Fiddler on the Roof/ Silva Thins advertisement

Broadway Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1964

Chicago/ Tareyton advertisement

Chicago cover

Chicago/ Tareyton advertisement

46th Street Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1975

Grease/ Pall Mall advertisement

Grease cover

Grease/ Pall Mall advertisement

Broadhurst Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1972

Cabaret/ Tareyton 100’s advertisement

Cabaret cover

Cabaret/ Tareyton 100’s advertisement

Imperial Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1966

Amadeus/ Carlton advertisement

Amadeus cover

Amadeus/ Carlton advertisement

Broadhurst Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1981

1776/ Pall Mall advertisement

1776 cover

1776/ Pall Mall advertisement

St. James Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1969

An Enemy of the People/ Kent advertisement

Enemy of the People Front Cover Kent Ad

An Enemy of the People/ Kent advertisement

Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center Playbill, front cover and interior page
1971

Angels in America/ Carlton advertisement

AngelsCarlton

Angels in America/ Carlton advertisement

Walter Kerr Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1993

Antigone/ Multifilter advertisement

Multifilter Antigone Resize 60

Antigone/ Multifilter advertisement

Lincoln Center Program, front and back covers
1971

La Cage aux Folles/ Carlton advertisement

La Cage cover

La Cage aux Folles/ Carlton advertisement

Palace Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1983

Much Ado About Nothing/ Iceberg 10 advertisement

MuchAdoIceberg

Much Ado About Nothing/ Iceberg 10 advertisement

Winter Garden Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1972

Metropolitan Opera/ Parliament advertisement

BH LincolnCenterProgram Resize 60

Metropolitan Opera/ Benson & Hedges 100’s advertisement

Program
June 1971

Metropolitan Opera/ Marlboro advertisement

MetDec7071 Marlboro

Metropolitan Opera/ Marlboro advertisement

Program
December 1970

Metropolitan Opera/ Marlboro advertisement

MetFeb7071 VA Slims

Metropolitan Opera/ Virginia Slims advertisement

Program
February 1971

Metropolitan Opera/ Benson & Hedges 100’s advertisement [2]

MetNov7071 Parliament

Metropolitan Opera/ Parliament advertisement  

Program
November 1970

Metropolitan Opera/ Benson & Hedges 100’s advertisement [2]

MetOct7071 BH

Metropolitan Opera/ Benson & Hedges 100’s advertisement

Program
October 1970

On the Twentieth Century/ Tareyton Lights advertisement

20th Century cover

On the Twentieth Century/ Tareyton Lights advertisement

St. James Theatre Playbill, front and back covers
1978

The 39 Steps/ “Don’t Be Silent About Smoking”

39Steps withAd

The 39 Steps/ “Don’t Be Silent About Smoking”

Roundabout Theatre Company American Airlines Theatre Playbill, front cover and anti-smoking advertisement by the New York State Department of Health
2005

Sunday in the Park with George/ “Don’t Be Silent About Smoking”

SundayInTheParkWithGeorge withAd

Sunday in the Park with George/ “Don’t Be Silent About Smoking”

Roundabout Theatre Company Studio 54 Playbill, front cover and anti-smoking advertisement by the New York State Department of Health
2008

CSTS NYC MTA Logo

Explore Culture, Tobacco and NYC with the Links Below

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BTBA NYC
 
1934 Two Cigarettes in the Dark Gloria Grafton
Lucy color ad for Philip Morris 1953
Grease cover
precious legacy
the vatican collections
1986 Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Ad Sponsor PM 1
inside the whitney at pm
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▼ Visit our Exhibitions on Art, Culture, and Tobacco with the links below ▼ 

Museum Malignancy - Tobacco Industry Sponsorship of the Arts

Museum Malignancy: Tobacco Sponsorship of the Arts, explores the ways in which Philip Morris has integrated arts sponsorship into its cigarette marketing and corporate image-burnishing. It also illustrates how art museums in particular have been willing partners in this effort.  Lastly, it highlights examples of activists and artists who have mocked or shamed leaders of museums for accepting tobacco industry sponsorship money. (Click Here)

Creativity in cigarette marketing reached its zenith in the 1980s when advertising agency owner and art collector Charles Saatchi thought of an entirely new kind of campaign to promote the brand Silk Cut. Inspired by the slashed canvases and punctured metal sculptures of artist Lucio Fontana, the visual puns for the words “silk cut” made it the best-selling cigarette brand in the UK. (Click Here)