33 Vintage Cigarette Ads That Are Now Hilariously, Tragically Absurd

Published June 24, 2016
Updated May 26, 2022

Though hilariously and tragically absurd today, these vintage cigarette ads helped keep the tobacco industry booming just a few decades ago.

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33 Vintage Cigarette Ads That Are Now Hilariously, Tragically Absurd
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Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States, according to the CDC. In fact, approximately one in every five deaths in the United States each year is caused by smoking. And if you do smoke, your lifespan will be at least ten years shorter than a nonsmoker's.

These numbers might not come as a surprise to you -- which is, in some ways, a sign that decades of medical studies and public service announcements about smoking's health negative effects have worked.

However, there was a time when we didn't know these numbers -- or at least when we weren't ready to believe that smoking was so harmful. And that obliviousness, willful or not, was largely the result of an endless tide of cigarette ads that the tobacco industry used to tout cigarettes' alleged health benefits in ways that are utterly laughable today.

That era began its decline on January 11, 1964, when the U.S. Surgeon General released its historic report linking smoking with cancer (something that had already been done in scientific journals for decades beforehand, which is another story entirely). Soon after, on June 24, 1964, the Federal Trade Commission ruled that cigarette packages must contain health warnings.

It wasn't long before the golden age of tobacco advertising -- in which manufacturers could get away with saying almost anything they wanted about cigarettes' alleged health benefits -- ended.


Next, go beyond vintage cigarette ads and check out the most offensive and ridiculous vintage ads. Then, discover some of the most sexist vintage ads from decades past.

author
All That's Interesting
author
A New York-based publisher established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science to share stories that illuminate our world.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.