Anti-tobacco advertising’s long fight against smoking

For those of you who have watched Mad Men or atleast some of it, you’ll remember that scene where Don Draper pitches “It’s Toasted” as Lucky Strike’s saviour slogan. But here’s the twist, that line wasn’t his brainchild, it was real, and it predated the show by decades.

In that now-iconic moment, Draper scribbles the words “It’s Toasted” on a notepad, transforming a mundane manufacturing detail into a seductive promise of quality. The real stroke of genius, of course, lies not in invention, but reinvention. While Mad Men positioned this as a spontaneous epiphany in 1960, the slogan actually dates back to the 1910s, long before Sterling Cooper’s fictional offices ever opened.

As documented by journalist Susan Wagner in her 1971 book Cigarette Country, “It’s Toasted” emerged as a counter-strategy by the American Tobacco Company to combat R.J. Reynolds’ market-dominating Camels.

At the time, burley tobacco, a stronger, nuttier alternative to the widely used Virginia tobacco, was gaining traction, especially in the wake of World War I, when Turkish imports were blocked. To compete, American Tobacco revamped Lucky Strike’s packaging and leaned into the idea of heat-curing their product: toasted, not just dried. The slogan wasn’t invented in a boardroom as Draper might suggest, but came from a manufacturing VP who casually remarked that cigarette-making used as much heat as cooking.

This early 20th-century campaign wasn’t just clever, it was costly and effective. The brand tapped into agricultural knowledge that was then common among consumers, who could understand the appeal of burley tobacco and equate “toasting” with craftsmanship. Lucky Strike soon overtook Camel, becoming America’s top-selling cigarette brand. While the real-life ad may have lacked the drama of Don Draper’s pitch, its impact was just as theatrical in scale.

Fast-forward to today, and the story of “It’s Toasted” becomes even more poignant. Smoking, now a global public health crisis, is witnessing a messaging reversal. The same advertising tools once used to glamourise cigarettes have been weaponised against them, transforming Marlboro Men into cautionary tales, and seduction into stark warning. The arc from Lucky Strike’s comforting toast to today’s graphic warning labels shows just how powerful messaging can be, capable of building cultural norms and breaking them apart.

The era of macho marketing: Selling smoke with strength

Using doctors to legitimise cigarette advertising was nothing new for tobacco companies, who employed this tactic widely. But the mid-20th century marked a golden age for tobacco marketing. Cigarettes were no longer just products, they became powerful symbols. Iconic campaigns like the ‘Marlboro Man’ cleverly associated smoking with rugged masculinity, independence, and adventure, embedding these ideas deep into popular culture.

This was a deliberate strategy to broaden the appeal of filtered cigarettes, initially perceived as feminine, to a male audience. Cowboys, adventurers, and symbols of strength became staples, embedding smoking into the very fabric of perceived manliness. 

Early anti-smoking campaigns faced an uphill battle against these cultural associations. The initial scientific murmurs about tobacco's dangers in the 1930s and 1940s, culminating in landmark reports like the U.S. Surgeon General's 1964 bombshell directly linking smoking to cancer and other diseases, were met with fierce denial and counter-messaging from a formidable tobacco industry. The challenge for early health advocates wasn't just to present facts, but to chip away at an identity crafted and reinforced by sophisticated marketing.

From gentle nudges to graphic truths

As scientific evidence mounted and public awareness grew, the landscape of anti-smoking advertising began a slow but decisive transformation. Initial responses were often cautious, small, text-based health warnings on packaging, as mandated by early legislation like the UK’s 1971 voluntary agreement or the US Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965. Television and radio advertising bans for tobacco products, like the UK’s in 1965 and the US’s in 1971, marked the early victories.

By the late 20th and early 21st centuries, recognising that subtle warnings were insufficient to counter decades of pro-tobacco messaging, campaigns became bolder and more visceral.

Graphic imagery depicting diseased lungs, tar-filled jars, clogged arteries, and decaying teeth became commonplace. Campaigns like Australia's National Tobacco Campaign, known for its hard-hitting ads, and elements of the ‘Truth’ campaign in the US, aimed to evoke strong negative emotional responses.

Perhaps one of the most impactful strategies has been the use of real stories from individuals suffering from smoking-related diseases. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) ‘Tips From Former Smokers’ campaign is a prime example, showcasing the devastating personal consequences of tobacco use. These campaigns leverage empathy and fear, making the abstract risks far more tangible.

As understanding of secondhand smoke's dangers grew in the 1980s, campaigns began to highlight the impact of smoking on others, particularly children and loved ones. This, coupled with policies creating smoke-free public spaces, helped denormalise smoking, shifting it from a socially acceptable habit to an often-criticised one. Campaigns like the UK's ‘Stoptober’ leverage social contagion, encouraging mass quit attempts by creating a sense of collective movement.

Landmark global initiatives like the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), adopted in 2003, have been pivotal. The FCTC mandates comprehensive measures including large pictorial health warnings, bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship (TAPS), smoke-free public places, and support for cessation.

This treaty has spurred countries worldwide to adopt more aggressive and evidence-based anti-smoking strategies, including plain packaging, now implemented in numerous countries.

India's battleground: The scale, the strategy

India has always presented a complex challenge in the global fight against tobacco. The statistics are sobering. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019-21), 38% of men and nearly 9% of women aged 15 and above use some form of tobacco. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS-2, 2016-17) indicated that 28.6% of adults (267 million people) use tobacco, with a significant prevalence of smokeless tobacco (21.4%) alongside smoking (10.7%). Regional variations are stark, with North-Eastern states often reporting the highest consumption rates. The economic impact is devastating, with tobacco-attributable economic costs estimated at INR 1.77 trillion (USD 27.5 billion) in 2017-18, roughly 1.04% of India's GDP.

India's legislative journey began with the Cigarettes (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 1975, which introduced statutory health warnings. However, the cornerstone of India's anti-tobacco efforts is the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (COTPA). COTPA brought sweeping changes:

• Bans on direct and indirect advertising of all tobacco products.
• Prohibition of smoking in public places.
• Mandatory pictorial health warnings (now covering 85% of the principal display area on both sides of packs).

• Prohibition of sale to minors and near educational institutions.

India's anti-smoking campaigns have evolved with time, adapting to a culturally diverse population and a wide array of tobacco products, including bidis, hookahs, and smokeless variants like khaini, gutka, and zarda.

Early efforts, prior to the enactment of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) in 2003, were largely fragmented and limited to textual warnings or regional policies such as the Delhi Prohibition of Smoking and Non-smokers Health Protection Act, 1996. With the launch of the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) in 2007-08, the government adopted a more structured approach, focusing on widespread public awareness and the effective implementation of COTPA’s provisions to curb tobacco use across the country.

India also adopted hard-hitting PSAs, often screened mandatorily in cinemas and on television. Campaigns featuring Mukesh Harane, who died of oral cancer, and the 'Sponge' (depicting tar squeezed from lungs) became widely recognised, albeit unsettling.

These were often adapted from successful global campaigns or developed with a clear understanding of evoking strong negative emotions. The 'Clinical Bidi' ad, focusing on second-hand smoke and filmed in India to resonate with local audiences (including bidi smokers), is another example.

The influence of India's massive film industry, Bollywood, cannot be understated. Historically, smoking was often glamorised or used to depict certain character tropes. While on-screen smoking displays were banned in 2005, revised rules in 2012 allowed depictions if accompanied by strong anti-tobacco disclaimers at the beginning and middle of the film/program, along with prominent static warnings during scenes showing tobacco use.

Mandatory anti-tobacco health spots (like 'Mukesh' or 'Child') must also be screened. While some celebrities have been criticised for on-screen or public smoking, others have lent their support to anti-tobacco messaging.

Recently, Akshay Kumar appeared in widely circulated anti-smoking advertisements in cinemas, positioning himself as a vocal advocate for public health. Interestingly, Kumar had previously faced backlash for endorsing a surrogate paan masala brand, a role he later stepped down from, issuing a public apology to his fans. While he has since distanced himself, many other celebrities continue to lend their star power to surrogate advertisements for gutka, khaini, and paan masala brands, often under the thin disguise of promoting flavoured cardamom, mouth fresheners, or other innocuous products. These ads cleverly sidestep direct advertising bans while sustaining brand recall, particularly during high-visibility events like the Indian Premier League (IPL), where commercial breaks are flooded with such promotions. With every other timeout featuring a celebrity dancing around to a fairly questionable jingle with a 'mouth freshener' pack that fools no one, the loophole remains glaring and deeply problematic.

This double standard of promoting public health in one breath and endorsing surrogate ads in the next, has drawn criticism and calls for stricter rules. Advertising veteran and Rediffusion MD Sandeep Goyal has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the growing use of surrogate ads in India. He’s asking the court to step in, enforce existing ad laws, and set up a real-time, government-run complaint system. His petition points to violations of laws like the Cable TV Rules (1994), the Tobacco Act (2003), and the CCPA’s 2022 guidelines, calling it a major public health issue.

Against this backdrop, India is also seeing a shift in how tobacco control is approached the use of social media to engage younger audiences, and the development of interactive mobile health initiatives like the mCessation program. In India, efforts are increasingly focused on stricter enforcement of COTPA, expanding tobacco-free zones, strengthening cessation support, and ramping up awareness drives. Marking World No Tobacco Day, The Hindu, in collaboration with Ogilvy, launched a nationwide campaign that highlights how brands are exploring more creative, culturally relatable approaches to anti-smoking advocacy, moving beyond the standard graphic warnings on cigarette packs, which often fail to deter habitual smokers. India has also recently become the first country to regulate anti-tobacco warnings on OTT streaming platforms.

The evolution of anti-smoking advertising is an ongoing public health battle against a deeply rooted and aggressively marketed behaviour. It highlights both the responsibility and the potential of the advertising industry to drive meaningful societal change, change that is possible if the will exists. Whether India can shift its smoking trends will depend not just on regulation, but on how consistently and creatively these messages are delivered in the years to come.