Mohammadi Seyed Mehrdad, Ling Pamela M, Apollonio Dorie E, Bialous Stella
Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Tob Control. 2025 Jun 24. doi: 10.1136/tc-2024-058896.
Tobacco companies employ various advertising methods, including immersive consumer experiences and cultural imagery, to promote their products. To our knowledge, no prior studies have explored how cigarette companies exploited perceptions of waterpipe tobacco in their marketing activities.
We conducted a search of the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Library using keywords and snowball searches. Initial terms included 'water pipe', 'hookah', 'tradition', 'culture' and 'lounge', supplemented by programme, agency and individuals' names. Findings were cross-referenced with published scientific literature and advertising archives.
American Tobacco Co (ATC) introduced the Waterford cigarette in 1965. The cigarette used pinchable water capsules in its filter tip, emulating the waterpipe smoking mechanism of passing smoke through water. ATC used several waterpipe tobacco elements (textual and pictorial) in Waterford cigarette advertising. RJ Reynolds (RJR) executed the Camel Casbah Programme from 1998 to 2003 to target young adult smokers. It featured smoking lounges in outdoor concert amphitheatres with VIP treatment, including greeters and 'cigarette girls', to create a 'Camelesque' environment that enhanced the 'Pleasure to Burn Experience'. The programme operated in 30 US concert venues with, averaging 600 events annually, generating over two million consumer names for RJR's database. Casbah used hookah imagery and artefacts in interior décor, stories and the design of its Exotic Blend line extension ads.
ATC and RJR used cultural imagery related to waterpipe tobacco and hookah to promote cigarettes. Understanding these methods can help address contemporary tobacco product advertising practices using cultural artefacts.
烟草公司采用多种广告手段，包括沉浸式消费者体验和文化意象，来推广其产品。据我们所知，此前尚无研究探讨卷烟公司在营销活动中如何利用人们对水烟烟草的认知。
我们使用关键词和滚雪球式搜索法对真相烟草行业文档库进行了检索。初始检索词包括“水烟管”“水烟袋”“传统”“文化”和“休息室”，并补充了项目、机构和个人的名称。研究结果与已发表的科学文献和广告档案进行了交叉核对。
美国烟草公司（ATC）于1965年推出了沃特福德香烟。该香烟在过滤嘴中使用了可捏的水囊，模仿水烟通过水过滤烟雾的机制。ATC在沃特福德香烟广告中使用了多种水烟烟草元素（文字和图片）。雷诺烟草公司（RJ雷诺）在1998年至2003年实施了骆驼卡斯巴项目，目标客户为年轻成年吸烟者。该项目在户外音乐会露天剧场设置吸烟休息室，并提供贵宾待遇，包括迎宾员和“香烟女郎”，营造出一种“骆驼风格”的环境，增强“燃烧的愉悦体验”。该项目在美国30个音乐会场地开展，每年平均举办600场活动，为RJ雷诺的数据库生成了超过200万个消费者姓名。卡斯巴项目在内部装饰、故事以及其异域混合产品线扩展广告的设计中使用了水烟意象和手工艺品。
ATC和RJ雷诺利用与水烟烟草和水烟袋相关的文化意象来推广香烟。了解这些方法有助于应对当代使用文化手工艺品进行烟草产品广告宣传的行为。
