Overview

Cigarette and smokeless tobacco companies spend billions of dollars each year to market their products.1,2

  • In 2011 (latest data available), cigarette companies spent $8.37 billion on advertising and promotional expenses in the United States alone, up from $8.05 billion in 2010.1
  • The five major U.S. smokeless tobacco manufacturers spent $451.7 million on smokeless tobacco advertising and promotion in 2011 (latest data available), an increase from $442.2 million spent in 2010.2

The money cigarette companies spent in 2011 on U.S. marketing amounted to approximately 1,3.4

  • About $23 million per day
  • Almost $27 for every person (adults and children) in the United States per year (according to mid 2011 population of 311,800,000)
  • More than $191 for each U.S. smoker (43.8 million smokers 2011 ) aged 18 years or older per year

The following three categories totaled approximately $7.76 billion and accounted for 92.7% of all cigarette company marketing expenditures in 2011 1

  1. Price discounts paid to retailers or wholesalers to reduce the price of cigarettes to consumers ($7 billion)
  2. Promotional allowances paid to cigarette retailers, such as payments for stocking, shelving, displaying, and merchandising particular brands ($357 million)
  3. Promotional allowances paid to cigarette wholesalers, such as payments for volume rebates, incentive payments, value added services, and promotions ($401 million)

Marketing to Specific PopulationsYouth and Young Adults

The three most heavily advertised brands Marlboro, Newport, and Camel were the preferred brands of cigarettes smoked by adolescents (ages 12 17 years) and young adults (ages 18 25 years) during 2008 2010.5

Brand Preferences of Adolescents 5

  • 46.2% preferred Marlboro
  • 21.8% preferred Newport
  • 12.4% preferred Camel
  • 16% preferred other brands
  • 3.5% preferred no usual brand

Brand Preferences of Young Adults 5

  • 46.1% preferred Marlboro
  • 21.8% preferred Newport
  • 12.4% preferred Camel
  • 15.2% preferred other brands
  • 1.6% preferred no usual brand

Targeting of Youth and Young Adults

There is sufficient evidence to conclude that there is a causal relationship between tobacco company advertising and promotion and the initiation and progression of tobacco use among youth people. There is scientific evidence that shows 5

  • Adolescents are exposed to cigarette advertising.
  • They find the ads appealing.
  • The ads make smoking appear to be appealing.
  • The ads increase adolescents’ desire to smoke.

Women

Women have been targeted by the tobacco industry, and tobacco companies have produced brands specifically for women. Marketing toward women is dominated by themes of social desirability and independence, which are conveyed by advertisements featuring slim, attractive, and athletic models.6,7

Racial/Ethnic Communities

Advertisement and promotion of certain tobacco products appear to be targeted to members of racial/minority communities.5,7,8

  • Marketing to Hispanics and American Indians/Alaska Natives has included advertising and promotion of cigarette brands with names such as Rio, Dorado, and American Spirit.7,8
  • The tobacco industry has targeted African American communities in its advertisements and promotional efforts for menthol cigarettes (e.g., campaigns that use urban culture and language to promote menthol cigarettes, tobacco sponsored hip hop bar nights with samples of specialty menthol cigarettes, targeted direct mail promotions).5,7

References

  1. Federal Trade Commission. Cigarette Report for 2011. PDF 386 KB Washington Federal Trade Commission, 2013 accessed 2013 June 20 .
  2. Federal Trade Commission. Smokeless Tobacco Report for 2011.
    PDF 180.59 KB Washington Federal Trade Commission, 2013 accessed 2013 June 20 .
  3. Census Bureau. 2011 Census Data. Washington U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, 2009 accessed 2013 June 20 .
  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette Smoking Among Adults United States, 2011. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2012 61(44) 889 94 accessed 2013 June 20 .
  5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2012 accessed 2013 June 20 .
  6. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Women and Smoking A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2001 accessed 2013 June 20 .
  7. National Cancer Institute. The Role of the Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use. PDF 6.35 MB Bethesda (MD) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, 2008 accessed 2013 June 20 .
  8. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Tobacco Use Among U.S. Racial/Ethnic Minority Groups African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 1998 accessed 2013 June 20 .

For Further Information

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office on Smoking and Health
E mail tobaccoinfo
Phone 1 800 CDC INFO

Media Inquiries Contact CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health press line at 770 488 5493.

Best electronic cigarette

Learning how to choose good electronic cigarettes brands

By reading ‘s e cigarette reviews, you can save yourself the hassle of trying multiple brands and hopefully get the brand that fits your personality and budget from the get go. Our e cigarette guide, Darren, does his best to dissect every brand on the market by sharing his first hand experiences.

It seems everyone is moving t0 e cigs, mostly because of the terrible health risks associated with smoking.

Now you are ready to get yourself your first electronic cigarette but as soon as you hit the internet or your local shop, you are presented with hundreds of different products and flavors. What do you pick? What is the best for you? Hopefully, all these questions will be answered in our comprehensive e cig buyers guide.

The right manufacturer

The Bull Smoke brand is one of the more popular e cigarette brands. Their tagline is “More Vapor. No Bull.”

The increasing popularity of electronic cigarettes amongst American citizens has caused several companies to come into the electronic cigarette business, each offering a unique version of the basic electronic cigarette and a variety of flavors to pick from. The first thing you must decide is a brand. Each and every brand has a unique product and flavors to go with. So the only way you can come to a conclusion is to actually have enough knowledge about the manufacturer. This is where electronic cigarette reviews will thoroughly help you out. Read the reviews see what people are saying about each brand. This is a very important step that you must take in order to learn about a brand and its benefits. You should easily be able to relate to hundreds of people on the internet who share the same passion of getting the best electronic cigarette as you.

Compare starter kits

Nearly every manufacturer lets users pick a starter kit when they want to try the brand out. You must compare all the starter kits from shortlisted brands in order to obtain the best value possible. In my opinion, always go for a starter kit that offers you the basic stuff you need to get started. Most starter kits will include extras like a carrying case or other fancy accessories. Try and ignore these for your first kit. You simply need to get a kit that allows you to have a battery, a cartomizer, a flavor and a charger to charge the battery. Anything other than these is an extra that should be avoided before you become a permanent customer of a brand.

Look for the right flavors

Okay so this is the trickiest part. There are several manufacturers and each offer at least five different flavors to choose from. While some of these flavors are similar in nature, most are brand exclusives. So if you are the adventurous type, don t hesitate to pick a brand that offers unique flavors. But if you just want to stick to the traditional tobacco flavor, you can go with any brand. But keep in mind that there are even brands that offer different tobacco flavors. The general aim is to get a tobacco flavor that best compliments your paper cigarette flavor.

Choose the right battery

If you are a starter, you should simply go for an automatic battery. This battery was designed with convenience in mind. The automatic battery does not require you to push a button to turn the cigarette on, instead, as soon as you puff on a cigarette, vapor is produced and you can inhale it. If you are one of those curious people who can t go on without discovering new things, feel free to add in a manual battery in your starter kit. Most manufacturers will give you two batteries to start with, so don t hesitate to add in a manual and automatic battery into your list.

Select the right nicotine strength

Generally, there are four different nicotine strengths available. You must determine the strength of the nicotine based on your paper cigarette needs. If you find that you are a heavy smoker, you should pick the highest nicotine strength available from a manufacturer. If you are in only because you want to permanently get away from smoking cigarettes or vaping electronic cigarettes, then start by taking low nicotine and move to zero nicotine.

A few of the more popular brands out there on the market are the V2 Cigs brand and the unforgettable Bull Smoke. If you are brand new to e cigarette smoking, those are the brands you should check out before all others.