The Black Menthol Cigarette Market

The Black Menthol Cigarette Market

This marketing document by the William Esty Advertising Company from the R.J. Reynolds collection discusses the demographics and smoking tendencies of the African American cigarette market in the United States, including the unusually high use of menthol among this group. The paper offers a possible explanation for the high use of menthol cigarettes among African Americans, stating:


 * "In 1974, before the introduction of lights, Black menthol smokers, to a greater degree than their White counterparts, believed menthol cigarettes were less hazardous/irritating than other cigarettes..."

The report concludes that advertising in magazines should be avoided when targeting Blacks and that instead R.J. Reynolds should use "OOH" [out-of-home advertising media, like billboards] to reach Blacks because such a large segment of this market is functionally illiterate. It also concludes that KOOL smokers "have well below average representation among the grade school educated," and states, "Today's young Black adults, who as teenagers, were yesterday's KOOL smokers..." and discusses how to market SALEM to these smokers instead.

Title THE BLACK MENTHOL CIGARETTE MARKET FEBRUARY, 1979(790200) Bates 501071047/1122 Pages 76 URL: http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/oxg59d00

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Related Sourcewatch resources

 * Menthol