Anti-Smoking Crusaders Mad at Mad Men
- 11 years ago
Anti-smoking crusaders are blaming the television show Mad Men for the reported 10 billion pack sales increase in Lucky Strike cigarettes.
Anti-smoking crusaders are blaming the television show Mad Men for the reported 10 billion pack sales increase in Lucky Strike cigarettes.
Set in the 1960s, the show follows the lives of the heavy drinking and chain smoking Madison Avenue ad execs.
Among the real clients that have been represented by the fictional agency is Lucky Strike.
Although their relationship came to a dramatic close seasons ago, sales of the brand have increased year-on-year at a rate of 11 percent since Mad Men’s 2007 debut.
Lucky Strike’s parent company British American Tobacco now offers the brand in 80 worldwide markets and sells 33 billion packs annually.
According to Doctor Penny Woods, the Chief Executive of the British Lung Association, the show may be responsible for unraveling years of hard work by anti-smoking groups.
She said, 'It's long been suspected that many people start smoking because they consider it cool. It is possible that programmes like Mad Men, where successful men in sharp suits chain smoke throughout the programme, are playing a part in maintaining that image.”
Woods suggests that television shows in general switch to non-branded packaging so real life product associations are hindered.
Anti-smoking crusaders are blaming the television show Mad Men for the reported 10 billion pack sales increase in Lucky Strike cigarettes.
Set in the 1960s, the show follows the lives of the heavy drinking and chain smoking Madison Avenue ad execs.
Among the real clients that have been represented by the fictional agency is Lucky Strike.
Although their relationship came to a dramatic close seasons ago, sales of the brand have increased year-on-year at a rate of 11 percent since Mad Men’s 2007 debut.
Lucky Strike’s parent company British American Tobacco now offers the brand in 80 worldwide markets and sells 33 billion packs annually.
According to Doctor Penny Woods, the Chief Executive of the British Lung Association, the show may be responsible for unraveling years of hard work by anti-smoking groups.
She said, 'It's long been suspected that many people start smoking because they consider it cool. It is possible that programmes like Mad Men, where successful men in sharp suits chain smoke throughout the programme, are playing a part in maintaining that image.”
Woods suggests that television shows in general switch to non-branded packaging so real life product associations are hindered.