CZM Rewind: Part Two: How Cigarettes Invented Everything

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• World War I was the critical turning point that propelled cigarettes into mainstream American adoption by providing a convenient smoking method for soldiers in the trenches, overriding prior anti-smoking sentiment.  Copied to clipboard!
• Early anti-smoking campaigns in the early 20th century were often fueled by moral objections, particularly regarding women smoking, rather than conclusive scientific evidence of health risks.  Copied to clipboard!
• R.J. Reynolds' launch of the Camel cigarette and his aggressive, modern advertising strategy, coupled with Lucky Strike's later use of radio and television, established the template for modern consumer advertising and the structure of the popular music industry.  Copied to clipboard!
• The Tobacco Industry Research Committee (TIRC), despite claims of scientific inquiry, was initially directed by non-scientists like W.T. Hoyt and its agenda was set by Hill before consulting any scientists, immediately issuing statements denying a conclusive link between smoking and disease.  Copied to clipboard!
• The TIRC strategically funded scientific research that avoided investigating the link between smoking and cancer, focusing instead on genetics, virology, and cancer progression to deliberately distract the public and lawmakers.  Copied to clipboard!
• The PR firm Hill and Knowlton pioneered modern media manipulation tactics—such as manufacturing controversy, demanding 'balance' by promoting industry-approved skeptics like eugenicist Clarence Cook Little, and relying on personal media contacts—strategies that were later adopted by other controversial industries and political movements.  Copied to clipboard!

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Rerun Introduction and Context

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(00:01:09)

• Key Takeaway: The hosts are airing a rerun of the episode “How Cigarettes Invented Everything” because the network mandated a two-week break.
• Summary: Robert introduces the episode as a rerun, noting it is the first time the show has taken two consecutive weeks off. This break was requested by Sophie to prevent the host from having to cram vacation writing. The episode being replayed is the one concerning how cigarettes invented everything.

Pollen Count and Gun Talk

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(00:02:06)

• Key Takeaway: The hosts engage in an extended, unrelated tangent about the high pollen count in Oregon and the relative effectiveness of different caliber firearms against trees.
• Summary: Robert complains about the unbelievable pollen count in Oregon, leading James to joke about shooting a tree with an AR-15 to solve the problem. They debate whether a .308 or 6.8 or 338 Lapua caliber would be more effective for tree destruction. This tangent concludes with a brief, unrelated connection back to smoking while shooting down trees for bonfires.

Cigarette Popularity Pre-WWI

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(00:03:41)

• Key Takeaway: Prior to World War I, cigarette smoking remained a minority habit, with less than 10% of Americans smoking, despite the efforts of figures like Duke.
• Summary: Cigarettes did not achieve widespread popularity until after the 1911 dissolution of the American Tobacco trust. Even then, less than 10% of the smoking population smoked cigarettes, indicating a small fraction of the overall U.S. adult population. The fortunes of cigarettes were set to change dramatically with the onset of the First World War.

WWI and Trench Warfare Adoption

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(00:04:21)

• Key Takeaway: The harsh, muddy conditions of WWI trenches made cigarettes the most practical smoking method for enlisted men, unlike pipes or cigars.
• Summary: Trenches were too dirty and chaotic for maintaining pipes or taking the time required for cigars, making the quick, disposable cigarette the ideal smoke for working soldiers between engagements. This necessity caused a massive adoption of cigarettes among the troops, making the habit mainstream.

Early Anti-Smoking Movements

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(00:05:29)

• Key Takeaway: The early 20th century saw an active anti-smoking campaign, often linked to prohibition advocates, which targeted public smoking and was heavily motivated by moral disapproval, especially concerning women.
• Summary: From the late 1890s to around 1917, anti-smoking efforts included public consumption bans and organizations like the Non-Smokers Protective League. John Harvey Kellogg was a prominent voice, arguing that non-smokers’ rights were trampled, though much of the opposition was based on disgust and moral panic over women smoking. For instance, New York State banned women from smoking in the presence of children in 1904.

Cigarettes and Gender Roles

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(00:09:10)

• Key Takeaway: Cigarettes played a significant, though background, role in increasing social equality for women by providing a shared activity that facilitated socializing between unmarried men and women.
• Summary: Unlike cigars, cigarettes were new and acceptable for women to smoke socially after dinner alongside men, breaking down traditional gender segregation. This shared habit of smoking together contributed to the increasing acceptance of social equality for women, alongside their entry into traditionally male jobs during WWI.

Military Endorsement of Tobacco

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(00:10:41)

• Key Takeaway: General Blackjack Pershing declared tobacco as essential as bullets for the American Expeditionary Force in WWI, leading the military to issue tobacco rations.
• Summary: Opposition to military smoking vanished when the U.S. entered WWI, as cigarettes were recognized as vital stress relievers and bonding agents for soldiers enduring trauma. Pershing’s statement that tobacco was needed ‘as much as bullets’ legitimized smoking, leading organizations like the YMCA to switch from banning smoking to shipping pallets of cigarettes.

Explosive Growth in Consumption

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(00:19:00)

• Key Takeaway: Between 1900 and 1940, the percentage of the U.S. adult population smoking daily skyrocketed from about 5% to 40%, with per capita consumption reaching 4,300 cigarettes annually by 1963.
• Summary: The massive increase in smoking rates was driven by the post-war normalization of the habit. In 1900, the average consumption was only 54 cigarettes per person per year across the entire population. This escalation highlights the profound cultural shift facilitated by WWI and subsequent marketing.

R.J. Reynolds and the Camel Launch

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(00:20:07)

• Key Takeaway: R.J. Reynolds, a devoted cigarette lover, created the blended Camel cigarette in 1913 specifically to undermine his rival, Buck Duke, after the American Tobacco trust was broken.
• Summary: Reynolds, unlike Duke who preferred cigars, loved cigarettes and actively worked against Duke, even aiding the government’s antitrust case. He launched Camel, using Turkish tobacco to create a blend, and employed an unprecedented national advertising campaign with slogans like ‘The Camels are coming’ to establish a truly national brand.

Targeting Women Smokers

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(00:24:25)

• Key Takeaway: Post-WWI cigarette advertising quickly co-opted women’s newfound independence, linking smoking to being attractive, independent, and thin, exemplified by Lucky Strike’s ‘reach for a lucky instead of a sweet’ campaign.
• Summary: As women entered the workforce during the war, advertisers targeted them by associating smoking with modern female assertiveness. Lucky Strike explicitly marketed weight control through smoking, helping to establish the trend of extremely thin female models in advertising. The tobacco industry also tacitly allowed candy cigarettes to use their branding, viewing it as beneficial early marketing to children.

Utah’s Anti-Smoking Ban

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(00:27:05)

• Key Takeaway: Following Prohibition, Utah banned cigarette sales in 1922, driven by the WCTU and the Mormon Church, based on the Surgeon General’s warning that female smoking would lower the nation’s physical tone.
• Summary: Moral crusaders targeted tobacco after alcohol prohibition, leading to Utah’s ban, which emphasized the moral risks to women. Surgeon General Hugh Cumming was quoted claiming that widespread female smoking was one of the most evil influences in American life. However, most state restrictions failed because they relied on moral panic rather than established medical proof, which was lacking at the time.

Early Cancer Science Limitations

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(00:33:17)

• Key Takeaway: In the 1920s, proving the link between cigarettes and lung cancer was difficult because modern life introduced many new potential carcinogens, and early scientific arguments against the link were sometimes logically sound based on limited data.
• Summary: Early critics questioned the link because smoke affected both lungs equally, yet tumors often appeared in only one, and because rising lung cancer rates could be attributed to increased life expectancy or other modern factors like car exhaust. The first quality study by Lombard and Düring in 1928, which included a control group, first suggested heavy smokers were 27% likelier to get lung cancer.

Insurance Industry Drives Research

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(00:38:07)

• Key Takeaway: The insurance industry, specifically Prudential statistician Frederick Hoffman, drove significant early research into smoking and cancer due to rapidly increasing payouts on lung cancer life insurance claims in the 1920s and early 1930s.
• Summary: Hoffman noted that lung cancer rates nearly tripled between 1915 and 1928, prompting him to publicly claim tobacco use heightened cancer risk to warn his company. This financial motivation from the insurance sector spurred further large-scale studies as the 1930s progressed.

Tobacco and Radio Advertising

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(00:40:23)

• Key Takeaway: The tobacco industry pioneered network radio advertising, with Lucky Strike’s ‘Hit Parade’ show creating the ongoing structure for popular music rankings, effectively inventing the top 40 music format.
• Summary: By 1930, all major tobacco companies were buying network radio time, spending over $13 million annually on ads by 1918. The Lucky Strike Hit Parade, which ran from 1928 into the 1950s, drew nearly 7 million entries weekly for one promotion and established the ongoing system for ranking popular music releases.

Winston and Flintstones Ads

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(00:44:17)

• Key Takeaway: Winston cigarettes sponsored The Flintstones, creating a cartoon show whose structure and humor imitated The Honeymooners, demonstrating the industry’s commitment to advertising directly to children.
• Summary: Laurelard created TV cartoon ads for Old Gold featuring Honeymooners stars, which presaged the Winston sponsorship of The Flintstones. The Flintstones were explicitly created as a vehicle for cigarette advertising, featuring blatant product placement where Fred and Barney take a ‘Winston break’ to avoid watching their wives work.

Doctor Surveys and Deception

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(00:48:11)

• Key Takeaway: In response to mounting negative science, R.J. Reynolds launched the ‘More doctors smoke camels’ campaign, based on surveys where doctors were sent free cigarettes and asked leading questions about irritation.
• Summary: For six years starting in 1946, Reynolds claimed more doctors smoked Camels than any other brand, citing non-named independent surveys. American Tobacco used similar tactics, sending cartons to physicians and asking if Luckies were ’less irritating,’ using the positive responses to claim their toasting process protected throats against irritation and cough.

Plan White Coat Strategy

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(00:52:18)

• Key Takeaway: In 1953, tobacco executives hired PR firm Hill and Knowlton to devise ‘Plan White Coat,’ establishing the Tobacco Industry Research Committee (TIRC) to use ostensibly independent, industry-funded science to muddy public perception.
• Summary: The plan, conceived at the Plaza Hotel, aimed to create a research entity controlled by the industry to provide disinformation and paint existing cancer studies as insufficient. Hill emphasized that the word ‘research’ was needed in the committee’s name to lend credence to their statements, even though their goal was public relations control, not answering scientific questions.

TIRC Executive Leadership

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(00:56:59)

• Key Takeaway: The TIRC’s executive director, W.T. Hoyt, lacked scientific background, having previously sold advertisements for the Saturday Evening Post.
• Summary: The TIRC’s agenda was set by Hill before any scientist was consulted, despite high-minded claims. The executive director, W.T. Hoyt, had no scientific background, coming from an advertising role. Hoyt and executives immediately issued a statement denying conclusive proof linking smoking to disease.

Clarence Cook Little’s Appointment

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(00:57:47)

• Key Takeaway: The first scientific director of the TIRC was Clarence Cook Little, a prominent biologist and geneticist known for his eugenicist views.
• Summary: Clarence Cook Little, a prominent biologist and geneticist, was appointed the first scientific director of the TIRC. Little believed lung cancer was purely genetic, not caused by environmental factors like smoking. This belief led him to argue against environmental causes, suggesting cancer susceptibility was linked to race.

TIRC Funding Strategy

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(00:59:14)

• Key Takeaway: By 1963, the TIRC directed nearly all its million-dollar budget toward PR (Hill and Knowlton) and carefully selected research that avoided investigating the cause of lung cancer.
• Summary: In 1954, almost the entire TIRC budget went to Hill and Knowlton and advertising, rather than science. By 1963, the TIRC distributed close to a million dollars in grants for research focused on cancer development and fighting it, but deliberately excluded research into whether smoking causes cancer. This strategy allowed them to fund ‘real studies’ while drawing attention away from the core issue.

PR Tactics and Media Courtship

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(01:00:19)

• Key Takeaway: Hill and Knowlton systematically courted media outlets by urging ‘balance’ and providing lists of industry-approved skeptics to consult, exploiting journalists’ preference for controversy.
• Summary: Hill understood that successful PR depended on face-to-face relations with media outlets, leading Hill and Knowlton to systematically document their courtship of newspapers and magazines. They repeated key themes: industry responsibility, commitment to investigation, urging skepticism toward statistics, and offering independent skeptics for ‘balance.’ This tactic successfully broadcast a small group of skeptics’ views as dominant medical perspectives.

Legacy of Tobacco PR Tactics

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(01:02:11)

• Key Takeaway: The tobacco industry’s PR strategies of inventing both sides of a controversy are directly linked to modern issues like climate change denial and the Iraq War.
• Summary: The tactic of inventing both sides in a controversy, achieved by presenting opposing views as equal, is a direct legacy of big tobacco’s PR work. These pioneered strategies are cited as the foundation for modern denialism, including climate change denial and other industry defenses. The hosts conclude that the tobacco industry invented much of the modern world’s manipulative communication tactics.

Future Discussion Points

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(01:02:47)

• Key Takeaway: Future discussions will cover the tobacco industry’s advertising to children in the 1990s and efforts to destroy the lives of whistleblowers.
• Summary: The conversation will later detail how the industry maintained its position as cancer links became obvious. Specific future topics include advertising aimed at children in the 1990s and the destruction of whistleblowers’ lives. This episode serves as the foundation for how tobacco invented many modern world systems.

Guest Plugs and Sign-off

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(01:04:39)

• Key Takeaway: James Stout promoted his book, ‘The Popular Front and the 1936 Barcelona Olympics,’ and encouraged reading Kropotkin for anarchist principles.
• Summary: James Stout plugged his book, ‘The Popular Front and the 1936 Barcelona Olympics,’ suggesting listeners use the library to avoid supporting systems that create widespread harm. He also recommended reading Kropotkin to explore anarchism as an alternative system. The hosts concluded by promoting the upcoming live stream show on October 26th.