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Perhaps you've heard about or have seen RJ Reynolds/Camel cigarette's newish No. 9 brand, which features a black box with pink detailing, and is ostensibly targeted at women? California congresswoman Lois Capps has led the outcry against Camel's marketing strategy, which in addition to using "girly" packaging, runs their No. 9 advertisements in popular glossy women's magazines that are often read by young women.
And the No. 9s must be doing well, because this fall, Camel is rolling out a spin-off of the No. 9 brand called "Stiletto," which is a longer, thinner version of the regular No. 9s.
So what's the problem? I first thought. Women (and men) can choose to smoke if they want, and I love pink, as do many of my friends. Everyone knows that smoking kills, but so do a lot of things. Then I did a little digging. Please don your tinfoil hats as we jump into the sinister world of women-targeted cigarette marketing strategies. The author is not responsible for resulting cynicism-induced grumpiness.
If you have not seen these cigarettes, have a look at the packaging below. The menthol variety looks similar, but uses a bright green in place of the pink.
Holy Clever Marketing, Batman! Even the camel is pink!
Aww, isn't that adorable? Wouldn't that go well with your flip phone and planner and pen and shoes? Why, these cigarettes would even match my hair! Bonus!
Then I looked closer at the ad campaign. In addition to the hot pink packaging, the print ads have a floral background and sometimes use the phrase "light and luscious," which to me evokes, I don't know, fruit salad or something healthy. Anecdotally, I have heard women I know say that they hesitate to "kick their butts" because they're afraid they will gain weight, and it seems that some teens cite weight loss as a reason to start smoking. "Light and luscious" started to seem a little more nefarious than I first thought.
Congresswoman Capps and others claim that the cigarettes are being targeted towards women, and specifically young girls. Why bother with this, I thought, when you could just recruit adult smokers with freebies, deals, and sexy ads? There are two probable reasons they are going after our girls. And I say "our" because I have a six-year-old who often looks over my shoulder as I flip through waiting-room fluff, and a young sister who makes me look about as hip as Maude Flanders. Many of us have young women in our lives, right?
The first reason and simplest reason is that, as many people know, cigarette companies need replacement smokers, since they are killing their most loyal customers. The industry needs 5,000 new smokers a day to maintain their current ranks and profits (this article also explains how cigarette companies target women, minorities, and teens).
The second reason seems to be more specific to Camel brand. It is estimated that only 30% of Camel customers are women, whereas 40-50% of Marlboro and Newport buyers are. But wait…let's be fair and let a RJ Reynolds spokesperson have a say:
"About half the audience is actually male," says David Howard. "The colors and the packaging simply accentuate the style and the premium nature of the brand."
Oh, I see. "Pink" means premium, now. Notice how he says, "audience" and not "customers." Very clever, Mr. Howard. There is also some anecdotal evidence that men are buying this brand, but COME ON. This looks to me exactly like every other cutesy pink item that has been marketed specifically towards women in the past few years, like ladies' toolsets, and the aforementioned phone, as well as pink items that benefit breast cancer research.
Finally, I wondered if there was truth to the notion that No. 9s were targeting young women, meaning teens. Gawker, known for its flip attitude and a penchant for facetiousness, argues that if Camel No. 9s were truly targeted at young girls, they would depict Hilary Duff dolls and so forth in the ads. But I think Camel's got it just right. Put the ads in magazines that young women look to for cues, showing them images of what they aspire to be: hip, grown-up, fashionable. The message that being a smoker is part of what being a hip, fashionable grown woman is comes though.
In a perverse way, things get more interesting when you look at the magazines that carry the advertisements and their reasons for
