Broadcasters who did cigarette commercials (You'd be surprised at some of them)

[MattParker]

Who are some of the people (with a name you know) who sold cancer sticks on TV (or radio)?

Some that come to mind....

Mike Wallace (spokesman for Parliament)
Edward R Murrow (didn't read copy but displayed a Pall Mall pack and smoked the product on air)
Walter Cronkite (read Winston copy on the CBS Morning Show but did correct an ungrammatical slogan)
Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore (did cigarette commercials shown in the Dick Van Dyke Show)
Phil Silvers (did Camels commercials in You'll Never Get Rich)
Jack Webb (did Chesterfield and Fatima pitches in the original Dragnet)
Lee Marvin (did commercials for Pall Mall while they sponsored M Squad)
Fred Flintstone (did Winston commercials during original network run of The Flintstones)

And Yul Brynner and William Talman (the DA on Perry Mason) did anti-smoking spots before their deaths from lung cancer.

Any others?

 

[Ultimajock]

Arthur Godfrey (Chesterfield)
Ed Wynn (Camel)
Garry Moore (Winston)
Rod Serling (Pall Mall)
John Cameron Swayze (Camel)
Jack Benny and Don Wilson (Lucky Strike)

...and in the case of cigars:
Ernie Kovacs (Dutch Masters)
Edie Adams (Muriel)

 

[mleach]

Rose Marie ( Kent )
Lyle Waggoner ( Tareyton )
Gloria Henry & Herb Anderson ( KOOL...years after Dennis the Menace )
David Doyle ( Virginia Slims )
Tom Bosley and Jo Anne Worley ( Doral )
Mike Farrell ( Chesterfield 101 )
Yvonne Craig ( yes Batgirl had once did an ad for Viceroy )
The Backstreet Boys ( Marlboro Lights in Japan good luck catching this on You Tube )
Bob Barker ( Raleigh & BelAir )
Bill Cullen ( Newport )
Julie London ( Marlboro )

On a similar note I believe Elvis Presley was once approached by Roi-Tan cigars to be their spokesman ( the brand smoked by "The King" ) only to have the idea vetoed by Colonal Tom Parker.

My dad several years ago had once told me that he can remember seeing Dick Clark doing a cigarette ad but doesn't remember the brand. Not really a shocker there since during the early days of Bandstand Clark was a big time smoker.

 

[LKellerIII]

For what it's worth, I believe Mike Wallace was the spokesman for Parliament cigarettes in the 1950s or very early 60s - before he became associated with hard news and years before 60 Minutes. Earlier in his career, he did primarily light weight 'infotainment' (even though that word hadn't been invented yet). He hosted late night interview programs, some with news makers, but just as many with celebrities.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

To be honest, and in all respect, I'm not surprised at any of the names shown as having done cigarette commercials on radio or TV. In the 1940's and 1950's, smoking was THE thing to do. What may suirprise some might be the newspaper and magazine ads from the 1950's into the 1960's. All you need do is check the back cover of magazines from that period. You will find pro baseball and football players endorsing cigarettes. One that I remember is of sports announcer Bill Stern for Camels, noting he is on the air for hours at a stretch and counts on a "Camel break" to help his throat and voice.

I don't smoke and certainly understand the definite dangers in doing so. Even on a somewhat minor concern, tobacco smoke irritates the throat, nose, sinus, etc. For me, personally, it's hard enough to keep those areas working well much less if the smoke of tobacco is involved. I really don't understand why anyone would have ever believed advertising slogans of how smoking can help your throat or how in the world could cigarette smoke provide some kind of energy.

However, and remember I realize the dangers of smoking, I feel the best and most memorable commericls in both radio and television history have been those for cigarettes. Ads such as: "Speedy" Riggs the auctioneer and L.S.M.F.T for Lucky Strikes; Chesterfield's Smoke Dreams up to the later years of The Marlboro Man, "Winston Tastes Good Like A Cigarette Should" on up to Virginia Slims. The ads were great, but the product was deadly.

 

[classictvfan]

What were some other celebrities that later quit smoking
and went on to speak out against smoking?

 

[anotherguyTN]

This was from radio in the 40's, but I had a copy of Abbott and Costello doing Who's on First from their radio show, complete with ads for Camel cigarettes. The main pitch of the ads were that more doctors smoked Camels, like that was supposed to make them healthier. ???

 

[radiotower40]

I'm surprised that somebody hasn't mentioned Lucy and Ricky yet. They promoted Philip Morris heavily.

I'm wasn't around to see the shows when they were new. I've just seen the videos on You Tube.

I was told that the opening and closing credits we see now were added when they went into syndication,
and that the original opening and closing were Philip Morris ads. Is that true?

 

[rbjones]

The entire first season of "I Love Lucy" did indeed begin with advertisements for Philip Morris cigarettes. They were also promoted heavily during commercial breaks. Later in the series, they began having other sponsors that were used in the opening of the show, but from what I understand, Philip Morris was always one of the primary sponsors.

 

[mleach]

To be honest, and in all respect, I'm not surprised at any of the names shown as having done cigarette commercials on radio or TV. In the 1940's and 1950's, smoking was THE thing to do. What may suirprise some might be the newspaper and magazine ads from the 1950's into the 1960's. All you need do is check the back cover of magazines from that period. You will find pro baseball and football players endorsing cigarettes. One that I remember is of sports announcer Bill Stern for Camels, noting he is on the air for hours at a stretch and counts on a "Camel break" to help his throat and voice.

Actually the cigarette ads back then aren't really all that much more different than what goes on today. Believe it or not cigarettes and cigars STILL advertise on TV..just not here in the America. For some reason people have this idea that when such ads were baned in the US back in 1971..then the rule applied to other countries too. Its not true of course. Today even though ads for smokes are banned in the US, many ads are still shot here for the most part to air in the far east such as China and Japan. For example there is an ad from the 90's for " American Made" Viceroy showing some American landmarks from Times Square to Cedar Point that appears on archive.org.

Football and baseball stars endorsing cigarettes? Strange? Yes it is but really it's no different than that Kid Rock ad for Winston that my cousin saw on TV in Tokyo a some years back or Seth Rogen from the new movie "The Green Hornet" selling Black & Mild cigars which my neighbors claimed to had seen last year in the Philippines. Flintstones doing ads for Winston may sound bizarre to us but on the flip side I wouldn't at all be surprised if one would see Brian Griffin from The Family Guy doing an ad for a smoke in some far eastern country where such ads are still allowed.

 

[TVWorldwide]

Actually the cigarette ads back then aren't really all that much more different than what goes on today. Believe it or not cigarettes and cigars STILL advertise on TV..just not here in the America. For some reason people have this idea that when such ads were baned in the US back in 1971..then the rule applied to other countries too. Its not true of course. Today even though ads for smokes are banned in the US, many ads are still shot here for the most part to air in the far east such as China and Japan.

In Europe, however, cigaratte advertising on TV is banned... and has been for a long time. There is now a EU-level ban, but cigarette commercials were banned (or, in many cases, never allowed in the first place) by individual countries even before that ban went into effect some twenty years ago.

 

[TVWorldwide]

And speaking of tobacco advertising bans, did TV station XETV, licensed to Tijuana but serving San Diego, continue to air cigarette commercials aimed at U.S. viewers after the 1971 FCC ban? I assume that there was nothing, except perhaps their own good public relations sense, that could have prevented them from doing that, right?

 

[Tom Wells]

WC Fields had a good time referring to his favorite nephew, "Chester" (Fields), much to the chagrin of his sponsor at the time.
Everyone should believe in something;
I believe I'll have a Camel now.

 

[mleach]

And speaking of tobacco advertising bans, did TV station XETV, licensed to Tijuana but serving San Diego, continue to air cigarette commercials aimed at U.S. viewers after the 1971 FCC ban? I assume that there was nothing, except perhaps their own good public relations sense, that could have prevented them from doing that, right?

Cant speak for XETV but cigarette ads were banned in at least three US TV markets before 1971,...Baltimore, Salt Lake City and Denver. Baltimore's WJZ was the first to ban the ads in 1968 which was soon followed by WBAL and WMAR. Salt Lake I would inagine it was KSL who was the first to ban cig ads there. Not sure about who was the first in Denver but sometime ago I did find an article in the now defunct Rocky Mountain News about how the Denver stations "came together" to ban smoking ads in 1969/1970. On the flip side and kind of ironic Denver today allows so-called "medical marijuana" ads at least its the case with radio. Just yesterday I heard an ad on "HOT 107.1" for some dispensary where some guy was going on about that since he now has HIV he can now legally "..get high in the mile high city". I am waiting for the FCC to do something about such ads.

One of my old co-workers had worked for Baltimore's WMAR at the time of the Baltimore cigarette ban and from what he was telling me since even in 1968 it was already known that ads for cigarettes would be a thing of the past so the local stations just went ahead and banned them anyway and the cigarette companies didn't do anything about it.

Since the FCC has no say about cable..wonder if cigarette ads can appear on cable?

 

[bpatrick]

William Conrad did commercials for Chesterfield, out of character,
on the radio version of "Gunsmoke". Art Fleming was the voice of
Winston cigarettes, although he did not correct the grammatical lapse.

As for cigarette product placements, GSN has had problems over the
years with '50s game shows because of prominently-displayed sponsor
logos (Winston on "I've Got A Secret" or Marlboro on "To Tell The Truth"),
or the awarding of cartons of cigarettes as prizes (again, Winstons on "IGAS"
or Old Gold on "Two For The Money"). Their general approach has been not
to broadcast those episodes, which is why several years of "IGAS" have not
been seen (and do you recall the lawyer who happened to be up in the wee
hours of the morning, turned on "Two For The Money," and threatened legal
action if GSN didn't take off the show because he said there was cigarette
advertising going on--for his information, Old Gold sponsored "Two For The Money"
from 1952 to 1956, about fifty years before his shocking : discovery, but I'm not
sure it's legal to show those programs that mention cigarettes within the program,
even if the program did originally air before 1971).

Re the Winston ads on "The Flintstones": it is indeed jarring to see Fred and Barney
sneaking a smoke, but remember that ABC was seriously aiming the show at adults
when it debuted in 1960, and (at least according to Castleman and Podrazik) the choice
of Winston as a sponsor was supposed to underscore that fact.

 

[mleach]

As for cigarette product placements, GSN has had problems over the
years with '50s game shows because of prominently-displayed sponsor
logos (Winston on "I've Got A Secret" or Marlboro on "To Tell The Truth"),
or the awarding of cartons of cigarettes as prizes (again, Winstons on "IGAS"
or Old Gold on "Two For The Money"). Their general approach has been not
to broadcast those episodes, which is why several years of "IGAS" have not
been seen (and do you recall the lawyer who happened to be up in the wee
hours of the morning, turned on "Two For The Money," and threatened legal
action if GSN didn't take off the show because he said there was cigarette
advertising going on--for his information, Old Gold sponsored "Two For The Money"
from 1952 to 1956, about fifty years before his shocking : discovery, but I'm not
sure it's legal to show those programs that mention cigarettes within the program,
even if the program did originally air before 1971).

With GSN and "Two for the Money" and "I Got A Secret", I remember this story but I think its a case of GSN "playing safe" more than anything else since, well anybody can sue for anything and nobody wants to go to court. Similar to what had happened in the Winchester, VA radio market in 1995 when a local school teacher/part time lawyer sued WFQX "99.3 The Fox" when one of their anouncers had a habit of saying "DA FOX" rather than "The FOX". While chances are the case would had been thrown out, WFQX decided to play safe and fire the announcer anyway. I would imagine GSN had taken the "we need to play safe" route as well.

I'm not sure either if its legal to air shows mentioning cigarettes within a program but I know its legal to show such stuff online since one has no trouble finding old cig ads to see on You Tube ( often with underage smokers ) and on sites like www.archive.org and www.tobaccovideos.com . Heck even brands like Camel, Black & Mild and Newport now have their own websites too.

 

[johnnyu]

I don't smoke and I don't chew and I don't go with girls who do!

 

[trusty]

I don't smoke and I don't chew and I don't go with girls who do!

...and let's not forget the famous cheer from Norfolk, VA High School:
"We don't smoke. We don't chew. Norfolk! Norfolk!"

 

[bpatrick]

As for cigarette product placements, GSN has had problems over the
years with '50s game shows because of prominently-displayed sponsor
logos (Winston on "I've Got A Secret" or Marlboro on "To Tell The Truth"),
or the awarding of cartons of cigarettes as prizes (again, Winstons on "IGAS"
or Old Gold on "Two For The Money"). Their general approach has been not
to broadcast those episodes, which is why several years of "IGAS" have not
been seen (and do you recall the lawyer who happened to be up in the wee
hours of the morning, turned on "Two For The Money," and threatened legal
action if GSN didn't take off the show because he said there was cigarette
advertising going on--for his information, Old Gold sponsored "Two For The Money"
from 1952 to 1956, about fifty years before his shocking : discovery, but I'm not
sure it's legal to show those programs that mention cigarettes within the program,
even if the program did originally air before 1971).

With GSN and "Two for the Money" and "I Got A Secret", I remember this story but I think its a case of GSN "playing safe" more than anything else since, well anybody can sue for anything and nobody wants to go to court. Similar to what had happened in the Winchester, VA radio market in 1995 when a local school teacher/part time lawyer sued WFQX "99.3 The Fox" when one of their anouncers had a habit of saying "DA FOX" rather than "The FOX". While chances are the case would had been thrown out, WFQX decided to play safe and fire the announcer anyway. I would imagine GSN had taken the "we need to play safe" route as well.

I'm not sure either if its legal to air shows mentioning cigarettes within a program but I know its legal to show such stuff online since one has no trouble finding old cig ads to see on You Tube ( often with underage smokers ) and on sites like www.archive.org and www.tobaccovideos.com . Heck even brands like Camel, Black & Mild and Newport now have their own websites too.

I'm sure you're right about GSN "playing it safe". Both "I've Got A Secret" and "Two For The Money" gave contestants cartons of their sponsors' cigarettes; since the Winston-era "Secret" episodes aren't shown, I don't know if Garry Moore got in a plug (probably did), but I know Herb Shriner did on "Two For The Money," and maybe when that lawyer called it to GSN's attention they might have figured yes, there's a commercial there (even if embedded within Shriner's banter).

And not only will you see cigarette ads on YouTube you can hear them on recordings of many radio shows; the Jack Benny radio shows from the 1945-55 era always have the Sportsmen Quartet praising the virtues of Lucky Strike (which sponsored Benny on television as well until 1960), and I've even found a radio broadcast of "Queen For A Day" with Old Gold as a sponsor, and Jack Bailey giving each contestant a carton...and that was a daytime show!

 

[LKellerIII]

Being a baby boomer, I remember the many TV commercial campaigns for cigarettes in the 1960s, before they were prohibited. I recall the catchy jingle for "Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should" ... and the blatantly sexist: "Lucky Strike separates the men from the boys, but not from the girls..." ,,implying that smoking Lucky's was not only macho, but it would attract women...presumably because Lucky Strike cigs didn't have filters, which meant that men were macho because they were inhaling all the tars and nicotine, unlike '*****' smokers who smoked filter cigarettes.

Definitely the primary example of the evils of advertising.