Spite: Shut Up and Take It Like A Man, (3 of 6)





Joe Camel

Such maneuvers would make RJ Reynolds proud; but unfortunately for this golden goose the eggs have stopped and Uncle Sam is looking to carve up this old bird 52 different ways. If impending doom won't change tobacco lawyers' tune, will anything? "...Smoking is a choice for adults and marketing programs are directed at those above the legal age to smoke," said Reynolds. But not in 1975, when Reynolds claims its "...documents reflect{ed} the social attitudes of the times in which they were created." A 1975 memo on Camel Filter cigarettes stated, "to ensure increased and longer term growth..., the brand must increase its share penetration among the 14-24 age group...which represents tomorrow's cigarette business." Surely, by now, even RJR realizes that the 14-24 market is saturated and they now must retarget to the 8-13 year olds. Failing that, there are always the international markets. With social attitudes that still linger back in 1952, China alone promises to provide the once great American tobacco companies with a market for the next 50 years.

 

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