That astonishing rise was the product of arguably the most successful targeted campaign ever launched in the history of American advertising—to persuade women to smoke. In this, tobacco rode on the back of a much deeper social change: in a world increasingly unsteady for women—with women juggling personal identity, child care, homemaking, and work—tobacco was marketed as a normalizing, steadying, even liberating force. Camel’s campaign depicted a naval officer firing a torpedo in the high seas, while his wife at home calmed her stormy nerves with a cigarette. “[It’s] a game only for steady
...more
