"More Doctors Smoke Camels than any other cigarette!" I real headline and story in the early 1950's

dee_thurman

If you have twitter and follow History in Pictures, then you probably saw this post. I wish I could produce the link but I just saw it on my phone. The picture is an older male in a white lab coat smoking a cigarette with the headline above. It never says that cigarette's are healthy in the article but promotes taste and "soothe's your throat." Looking at the article now makes me sick. If you choose to smoke that is your personal decision but we all deserve real information.

I am posting this because it made me think. I don't think that there is an example today as bad as this article, but is there something out there today that is promoted as "ok" or "safe" or even "healthy" that we will find out 60 year's later it is aiding in killing people? What are your thoughts?

ninerbuff

Fad diets and programs have been around for decades. And while people may not be dying from doing them, what I do believe is that it will discourage people from learning CORRECTLY how to control their calorie consumption, which will lead to more health issues as they age. We see it now. Overweight and obese people who need medical care and drugs just to extend their life at the age of 50 plus.

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niniundlapin

I might saw the same picture in a lecture in professional school just a few years ago about smoking cessation and history of cigarettes, and the lecturer threw out almost the same question like what you've asked. Back then, things like tobacco were not fully studied yet for the influence on human body when they just came out on the market, and of course, the protocols weren't as established like now what we have today. Even nowadays, it's really hard to tell if a product is 100% safe or beneficial on everyone. And if there's anything happened to be marketed like that, I'd go to NCBI or PubMed for research articles to see how true that piece of info could be. (One thing I also got from that lecture: Don't just trust the company that makes the product about their benefits towards human health cuz their primary goal is to sale the product.)

markrgeary1

I recall the Kent Micronite filter cigarette commercials. Big healthy filter on your Kent cigarette. They were made from asbestos!

I truly believe man knows much less about what's healthy than we'd like to believe.

13bbird13

I saw this in a YouTube video titled "10 worst ads of all time" or something like that. I'm almost old enough to remember it, and certainly old enough to remember when smoking was no big deal... my mother smoked in the car all the time with me and my little brother in the back seat and the windows rolled up, which I guess is considered child abuse nowadays. Camels were her brand, and I don't think they've changed the pack design the least little bit since then. Kid brother grew up to become a chain smoker himself, but for some reason I didn't. My dad, a WWII vet, recalls that the government-provided "care packages" sent to the troops overseas contained cigarettes, and he smoked them just because they were there... he quit when he got home. Thanks, Uncle Sam.

It's crazy, isn't it, how some things go from perfectly normal to GAAAHHH!! over the years? Ever hear of how they used to size your shoes at the shoe store way back when? By sticking your foot into an x-ray machine and exposing you to unnecessary radiation!

robertw486

I was watching some off the wall food channel show, and it had the story of some hot dog place... I think it was Nathan's but I'm not 100% sure. Anyway, they started offering free hot dogs to medical professionals in the area, so that when people saw the doctors and nurses in there eating their free hot dogs, they would assume they were healthy.

Quite the marketing idea.