That's an interesting question. As I recall at one time 30-33% of underage smokersJoe Camel - did this campaign increase the number of teens smoking overall, or did it gain market share of the teen market?
used camel products. It was asserted that it was because of Joe Camel. On the face
of it, it would be logical to assume younger people were attracted to the product because
they thought Joe Camel was cool. Apparently many thought this was true. The problem
was when the advertising restrictions went through there was no 30-33% reduction in
in the use of Camel products in the underage category. As a mater of fact there was no
reduction of use of any tobacco product in the underage category. If all these kids were
automatons perhaps Jedi mind tricks like advertising and flavor bans might have worked.
Kids back then like the kids now know what products are meant for the adult market.
Even back when the infamous Fred Flintstone smoking commercial debacle kids like
me ( I was about 7 then ) understood they were advertising to adults. After all Fred
and Barney were adults. If one remembers during the first run of the original Flintstones
series the demographics showed adult viewership was always higher than 50% it
becomes apparent why some thought it was a good idea to promote cigarettes
via a popular adult venue. Real live celebrities did it all the time. Almost half the
adult population smoked. There was no nefarious attempt to lure the chillin' into
a terrible life time addiction to the evil nicotine. That concept wasn't even on the
agenda back then.
Regards
Mike