A 1963 ad for Kool cigarettes features a Black man and woman, both holding lit cigarettes. The man, smiling, gazes down at the woman, who looks into the distance as she blows a stream of smoke from her mouth. The accompanying text reads: “Only Kool gives you rich, mellow tobaccos … and extra coolness … a refreshing coolness you draw so smoothly through Kool’s pure white filter … from the very first cigarette in the morning, to your last cigarette at night.”
A 1971 ad from the cigarette brand L&M depicts a Black woman enjoying a luxurious bath. One arm dangles off the side of the tub, while the other holds a lit cigarette. “Everybody’s in bed and I’ll be soon, but not yet, because the bath is so soothing and I can relax” the ad reads. “This … is the L&M moment.”
And a 2006 Kool ad depicts a Black man, clad in a full black leather outfit, holding a cigarette while gazing out of a window. The only text on the ad is the surgeon general’s warning.
The advertisements, which started as part of a 1960s-era campaign by the tobacco industry, aggressively marketed highly addictive menthol cigarettes to Black people for decades. Some Black publications even became dependent upon tobacco advertising to stay afloat, and marketers identified people in Black communities, such as barbers, to give free samples to clients to help build a new market.
The campaigns were largely successful: between 1980 and 2018, 1.5 million Black Americans began smoking menthols, and 157,000 Black Americans died prematurely from smoking-related deaths. In 2020, about 81% of Black smokers smoked menthol cigarettes, compared with 34% of white smokers.
But tobacco lobbyists and advertisers’ success in creating a market of consumers could be soon coming to an end.
Last Tuesday, anti-smoking groups sued the US government over the delay in passing a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has attempted to ban menthol for about 15 years, estimating that doing so could prevent 300,000 to 650,000 smoking deaths over the course of several decades. But the tobacco industry’s lobby has repeatedly pushed back on lawmakers and advocates’ efforts.
“As African American physicians, we are deeply disturbed at the continuing delays in FDA’s finalizing of the ban on menthol cigarettes,” Dr Yolanda Lawson, the president of the National Medical Association, said in a statement. “Our patients, more than any other group, become disabled and die prematurely due to the continued use of these cigarettes.”
White House officials had said that they would review the proposal by last month, but that deadline has passed without any action. When the Biden administration initially set the March 2024 deadline, it did so with concern over how the ban could affect Biden’s performance in an already highly competitive election year, the Washington Post reported last year.
Tobacco lobbies have argued that such a ban would jeopardize the president’s chances with Black voters, and some Black public figures, such as the Rev Al Sharpton, have said that the ban could lead to heightened criminalization of Black menthol smokers. Advocates, however, argue that as the rule continues to be delayed, people pay the consequences with their lives.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly all people who smoke cigarettes began smoking in adolescence or young adulthood. And those who start smoking with menthol cigarettes are more likely to continue smoking through adulthood. Menthol cigarettes are considered more addictive than normal cigarettes because they enhance nicotine’s effect on the brain (in recent years, some companies have increased the amount of nicotine in menthol cigarettes). Menthol is the only cigarette flavor that wasn’t banned under a 2009 law that gave the FDA authority over tobacco products, an exemption that was negotiated by tobacco lobbyists.
Though cigarette smoking overall has decreased over the past two decades, there has been an increase of menthol smokers, specifically among young adults, racial minorities, women and people with mental health issues. Anti-menthol advocates filed their first lawsuit pushing to ban menthol cigarettes in 2020, and estimate that almost 40,000 Americans have died from menthol cigarette usage in the time since then.
“The FDA’s own research confirms that a menthol ban would save lives,” Laurent Huber, the executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, said in a statement. “There is no scientific reason to delay finalizing this rule.”
