Dakota Takes on the Marlboro Woman

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company’s “Virile Female”

In 1990, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company chose Houston and Nashville as test markets for a new brand of cigarettes aimed at free-spirited, Marlboro-smoking young women, or “Virile Females” in the words of TRONE, the advertising agency that created the campaign. According to TRONE’s internal marketing plan, Dakota was targeted–on billboards, in full-page newspaper ads, in convenience store displays featuring life-sized denim-and-leather-clad biker babes, and concert sponsorships–-to 18-24-year old women who go to tractor pulls with their boyfriends and “identify with the bitches in the soap operas.” In Houston, the campaign was met with a satirical counter-advertising campaign by the medical activist group DOC (Doctors Ought to Care), which purchased a full-page satirical ad in the alt-weekly newspaper Houston Public News and distributed hundreds of bumper stickers with the slogan, “Dakota, DaCough, DaCancer, DaCoffin.” The resulting public ridicule of Dakota–-and adverse publicity when Houston’s two daily newspapers refused to publish the same DOC parody ad out of fear of alienating cigarette advertisers–-led RJ Reynolds to drop its plan for a national launch of the brand.

INTRODUCTION: Taking on R.J. Reynolds and Dakota Cigarettes, 1990 (07:36)

Dr. Blum discusses DOC’s campaign to subvert Dakota, the epithet used by RJ Reynolds’ marketing company to describe women that was misattributed to him, and his friendship with renowned health care economist and anti-smoking activist Dorothy Rice (1922-2017), who helped resolve the misunderstanding.

Below is the 24-minute audio recording of Dr. Blum’s presentation on Dakota at the 8th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on April 2, 1992.

Listen to more stories about the history of the tobacco industry, cigarette marketing, and anti-smoking activism here

1991 02 04 Sports Illustrated Dakota Ad 1

“DAKOTA. WHERE SMOOTH COMES EASY.”

Advertisement by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
Sports Illustrated
February 4, 1991

“DAKOTA. WHERE SMOOTH COMES EASY.”

Full-page newspaper advertisement by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
The Houston Post
May 7, 1990

“DAKOTA. WHERE SMOOTH COMES EASY.”

Full-page newspaper advertisement by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
The Houston Press
1990

“RJ Reynolds Taking Heat for Introducing a Cigarette Targeting Young Women” (06:13)

Reporter: Carole Zimmer
“Morning Edition”
National Public Radio
April 5, 1990

“Knowing that the more you know the less you smoke in this country and watching the rate of smoking among white males drop precipitously, the tobacco industry has deliberately targeted populations where they can increase addiction to tobacco.”

–Anne Marie O’Keefe
Women vs. Smoking Network

“V.F. YEAR I
PROMOTION RECOMMENDATION” (10 pages)

Excerpt of advance marketing report for the launch of the Virile Female cigarette brand Dakota
Trone Advertising, Inc.
June 16, 1989

“VIRILE FEMALE
DEMOGRAPHIC/PSYCHOGRAPHIC REVIEW

Target Customer
1.Demographics

a.Age/gender:  Caucasian Female, Age 18-20 (secondarily 21-24)
b.Education:    No education beyond high school
c.Occupation:  Entry level service or factory job

2.Lifestyle…

e.TV Program: Roseanne

TV Role: Roseanne, Evening Soap Operas (Bitches)…”

“DAKOTA HOUSTON TEST MARKET
1990 TACTICAL PLAN” (34 pages)

Presented to R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Presented by Promotional Marketing Inc., Chicago, Illinois

March 15, 1990

“Bar Presence Materials

Bar Kits will be placed in target bars. Each bar kit will include a supply

of the following items bearing the Dakota logo:

a.Matchboxes.
b.Ashtrays.
c.Penlights.
d.Ink pens.
e.Drink coasters.
f. Napkins.
g.Imprintable table tents.
h.Napkin/stir rod caddy.
i Bar tray.
j.Bar towel.

Permanent Presence Items also will be placed in target bars. All items
will bear the Dakota logo. They include:

a Chalk boards.
b.Neon signs.
c.Pool table light.
d.Pool table accessories.
e.Tiffany-style hanging lamp.
f.Clocks.
g.Darts game scoreboards.
h.Mirrors.”

“DAKOTA 1990 FIELD MARKETING PLAN
HOUSTON TEST MARKET” (11 pages)

Presented for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Presented by Promotional Marketing Inc., Chicago, Illinois
December 13, 1989

“R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company will be introducing into a test market in Houston beginning in April, 1990 a new cigarette known as Dakota. Dakota will be highly targeted and directed at younger adult female smokers age 18-21, most of which are currently smoking Marlboro.

“The brands [sic] overall positioning will allow the target smoker to have a very relaxed and comfortable lifestyle association with Dakota. It is very important that all promotional efforts that are executed to promote Dakota, support the brands [sic] basic proposition of lifestyle association. In essence, Dakota will become highly integrated into the daily activities of the target in a very subtle, soft-sell and low key manner.”

“DAKOTA HOUSTON TEST MARKET
1990 TACTICAL PLAN” (47 pages)

Presented to R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Presented by Promotional Marketing Inc., Chicago, Illinois

February 14, 1990

“Dakota is a new cigarette brand targeted to young adult smokers . Although it is primarily intended for female smokers, it will also be acceptable to their male counterparts. Besides their youth, target consumers for Dakota have other common characteristics. Psychographically, they are more easily described by what they are not than by what they are.

[] They are not high-achieving strivers . They are not ‘upscale.’ They are not yuppies
[] They are high school graduates and may have attempted college, and they may attend or have attended trade school
[] They are not trend-setters. They are not leaders or experimenters. Their values and pastimes are traditionaL They ‘go with the flow.’
[] Although they work they are not career-oriented. They are not especially ambitious. They are ‘9 to 5’ (or ‘8 to 4’) types, blue/pink collar: They work to live, they don’t live to work
[] They are not long-range planners. They live for today, in the ‘here and now.’
[] They are not interested in high fashion. They have their own fashion. Their personal style runs more to worn denims and t-shirts than to designer labels.
[] Although they do not have high levels of disposable income, they are willing to spend what they do have on entertainment and other forms of immediate gratification.
[] They are not currently smoking an R.IR brand. Most are smoking Marlboro.

Their interests and activities include: driving and admiring cars, motorcycles and sport/utility vehicles (light truck and 4-wheel-drive off-road vehicles), listening to rock music, playing pool and pinball, going to bars, watching movies, and ‘cruising’ or ‘hanging out with friends.’”

“Dakota Segmentation Study

March 11-15, 1991–Houston” (5 pages)

Marketing report by TRONE Advertising, Inc.

“SUMMARY OF FINDINGS:
GENERAL ATTITUDES/LIFESTYLE

The respondents who claimed Dakota as their CUB (Current Usual Brand) were found to be very independent, self-confident people, whereas those who claimed Camel as their CUB were less so and therefore needed the security of a big brand to feel acceptance. Both brands seemed to attract younger adult smokers who enjoy the outdoors and like to party, however, the Dakota smoker feels more comfortable in a close-knit group with close friends at ‘do-drop-in’ parties, whereas the Camel smoker would rather be in a large crowd at a big fraternity party. The Camel respondents were less likely to accept the changing roles of women stating that they felt threatened by the ‘super woman’ of today. On the other hand, the Dakota participants were very receptive to women’s changing roles and felt like their independence and choices in society today were more important than being caught up in traditional beliefs. As for the male roles, most respondents felt that they had not changed very much in the past 10 years. When questioned whether they usually ‘followed the rules’ the Dakota smokers responded that it depended on the situation–they were more often ‘rule benders.’ In contrast, the Camel smokers claimed that rules were made for a reason–to protect themselves and society.”

“DAKOTA DISCONTINUATION–NASHVILLE AND HOUSTON” (2 pages)

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. internal memorandum
December 10, 1991

“On Nov . 20, 1991, direct accounts in Nashville and Houston were advised that the last shipping date for Dakota cigarettes into their areas is Dec. 6.”

“ASK ME ABOUT DAKOTA!”

Button worn by convenience store clerks
1991

A customer who asked the clerk about Dakota would receive a free pack, and the clerk would receive a cash incentive.

Dakota Light 100s

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1990

Dakota BOX, Dakota LIGHT 100s, Dakota FULL FLAVOR 100s

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1990

Dakota FULL FLAVOR 100s

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1990

Dakota ashtray

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1990

“DAKOTA. WHERE SMOOTH COMES EASY.”

Matchbox by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1990

“DAKOTA. WHERE SMOOTH COMES EASY.”

Retail store matchbox display by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1990

Dakota Trading Company

A Postcard Catalog for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.’s Dakota Trading Company from 1990.

“FREE T-SHIRT! WITH 2-PACK PURCHASE”

Retail store promotion by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Dakota cigarettes
1990

“FREE T-SHIRT! WITH 2-PACK PURCHASE”

Retail store promotion by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Dakota cigarettes
1990

“FREE T-SHIRT! WITH 2-PACK PURCHASE”

Retail store promotion by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Dakota cigarettes
1990

Dakota CIGARETTES Mug

Retail promotion by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1990

Dakota CIGARETTES Mug with warning label

Retail promotion by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1990

“FREE KEYRING/OPENER! With 2-pack purchase.”

Retail store promotion by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Dakota cigarettes
1990

“DISPOSABLE FREE FUJI CAMERA! With 2-Pack Purchase.”

Retail store promotion by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Dakota cigarettes
1990

“FREE LIGHTER & LEATHER HOLDER! With 2-Pack Purchase.”

Retail store promotion by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Dakota cigarettes
1990

“PLAY TO WIN THE GREAT DAKOTA PHOTO CONTEST”

Postcard by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Discover Dakota Picture Contest
1990

The Great Dakota Cigarettes Picture Contest

Postcard for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.’s Dakota Picture Contest

1990

“Ask Me About Dakota”

Circular for retail store employees by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, encouraging them to wear a button to promote Dakota cigarettes
1990

Dakota Trading Company

Like several other of its brands of cigarettes–Winston, Camel, Doral—RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company created a catalog of clothing and accessories featuring the logo “Dakota Trading Co.” The models in the catalog are smoking Dakota cigarettes, and the Surgeon General’s warning appears on every page of this “clothing” catalog.

Dakota CIGARETTES

Catalog by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Dakota Trading Company
1990

Dakota Trading Company

Order form by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1990

While the Dakota Cigarettes branding remained on the large catalogs, the mailers had the Trading Co. logo instead.

DAKOTA TRADING COMPANY

Postcard catalog by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

1990

Dakota leather gloves

Item in Dakota Trading Company catalog by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1990

Dakota bolo tie

Item in Dakota Trading Company catalog by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1990

Dakota bike chain belt and buckle

Item in Dakota Trading Company catalog by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1990

“Dakota DaCough DaCancer DaCoffin”

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company selected Nashville and Houston as test markets for Dakota cigarettes. Houston was the home of the nation’s largest physician-led anti-smoking organization, Doctors Ought to Care (DOC), which created a satirical paid counteradvertising campaign aimed at “laughing the pushers out of town.”

Margulies Cartoon North South Dakota Cigs 1

“North Dakota South Dakota”

Editorial cartoon by Jimmy Margulies
The Record (New Jersey), republished by the Houston Post
1990

“Dakota DaCough DaCancer DaCoffin”

Bumper sticker created by Doctors Ought to Care (DOC)

1990

“YOU DECIDE”

Advertisement by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Dakota cigarettes
The Houston Chronicle and The Houston Post
1990

“Dakota, DaCough, DaCancer, DaCoffin”

Counter-advertisement parody by Doctors Ought to Care (DOC), which The Houston Chronicle declined to publish.
1990

Alan Blum, MD next to a life-sized cardboard figure for Dakota cigarettes, one of hundreds in Stop ‘n’ Go and other Houston convenience stores.
1990

Four of these six-foot tall promotional items were donated to the Center by Ross Banister, a longtime employee of the American Lung Association in Houston. With a clipboard under his arm, a pencil behind his ear, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up, and wearing a tie, khakis, and wingtip shoes, he would go into a convenience store, pick up the cardboard figure, and walk out with it. If a clerk asked him what he was doing, he’d simply reply, “We’re just taking it back.”

“We regret having to turn down the advertising that was submitted for publication in The Houston Chronicle.”

Letter from Susie Davidson of The Houston Chronicle to Jim Smith of Doctors Ought to Care declining to publish a counter-advertisement parody of Dakota cigarettes.
April 17, 1990