This week’s Throwback Thursday takes us back to a time when Madison Avenue minted money glamorizing cigarettes, blowing smoke in the face of mounting medical research and targeting kids. Oh, there’s no shortage of sexism, either.
What a time to be alive: Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble could share a Winston with your kids, and Lucille Ball told women that Phillip Morris cigarettes will make their husbands happy. York cigarettes apparently gave you mad flirting game, and collecting Raleigh cigarette coupons could get you a watch — and a transistor radio for your son. Three out of four doctors agree, nothing beats a smoke in your downtime — and women’s lib means ladies get their very own brand. So, smoke ’em if you got ’em.
More in Marketing
Marketers shift growing shares of search spending to GEO
Generative AI is pushing brands to shift SEO budgets toward visibility in AI-generated answers over clicks.
Philadelphia Cream Cheese pulls dollars from search – people aren’t Googling ‘cream cheese’
Philadelphia Cream Cheese has stopped paying for search ads, at least to prospective shoppers on Google. Over the past year, the Kraft Heinz-owned CPG brand has phased out its traditional search ad spend, opting to put those dollars instead into retail media and broader channels, according to Maddy Zingle, vp of marketing for Philadelphia Cream […]
TikTok courts CMOs with first-ever Collective, as it targets bigger budgets
In its first CMO-focused event in the U.K. TikTok showcased how easy it is for brands to create content. The event is only part of the platform’s sharper 2026 commercial strategy: targeting larger, long-term ad budgets, courting independent agencies, and positioning itself as a serious competitor to Meta in 2026.