When “More Doctors Smoked Camels”
Medical Claims in Cigarette Advertisements, 1888-1988
“When ‘More Doctors Smoked Camels’: Medical Claims in Cigarette Advertisements, 1888-1988” is an exhibition by Alan Blum, MD initially presented at the Jones Library, Texas Medical Center, Houston, Texas from November 1988 through February 1989.
The exhibition takes its name from a heavily run ad campaign from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company which proclaimed, “More Doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette.”
The artifacts in the exhibition represent the manner in which tobacco companies utilized advertising to subvert medical evidence and opinion through influence. Ironically many cigarette companies advertised their brands as the least irritating on the throat or as having a “cool” smoke even though they fervently denied any connection between smoking and health for decades.
