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Associations Between Cigarette Print Advertising and Smoking Initiation Among African Americans

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Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives

The objective of this study was to examine changes in the annual number of cigarette advertisements in magazines with a predominantly African-American audience following the broadcast ban on tobacco, and whether fluctuations in cigarette print advertising targeting African Americans during the late-1970s until the mid-1980s were associated with declines in smoking initiation.

Design

We tabulated the annual number of cigarette advertisements from magazines with large African-American readerships (Ebony, Essence, and Jet) from 1960 to 1990. Advertisements were coded depending on whether they featured African-American models. We calculated the incidence rate of regular smoking initiation from 1975 to 1990 for African-American 14–25 years old using data from the 1992–1993, 1995–1996, 1998–1999, and 2001–2002 Tobacco Use Supplements of the Current Population Survey. We examined whether trends in smoking initiation coincided with trends in cigarette advertising practices among African Americans.

Results

The annual aggregated number of printed cigarette advertisements in Ebony, Essence, and Jet magazines increased at least five-fold starting in 1971, following the broadcast ban on cigarette advertising. A decrease in the percentage of ads by Brown & Williamson that showed African-American models was positively correlated (r = 0.30) with declines in the incidence rate of smoking initiation among African Americans from the late-1970s to the mid-1980s.

Conclusion

The tobacco industry adapted quickly following the broadcast ban on cigarettes by increasing print advertising in African-American magazines. However, changes in print advertising practices by were associated with declines in smoking initiation among African Americans from the late-1970s to mid-1980s.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants 12KT-0158 and 21RT-0140 to DRT and 15IT-027 to MBR from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program of the University of California Office of the President.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

    Dennis R. Trinidad

  2. School of Community and Global Health, Claremont Graduate University, 675 West Foothill Boulevard, Suite 310, Claremont, CA, 91711, USA

    Lyzette Blanco

  3. Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Sherry L. Emery

  4. University of Hawaii Cancer Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Pebbles Fagan

  5. Moores UCSD Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

    Martha M. White

  6. Center for Alcohol & Drug Studies & Services, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Mark B. Reed

Authors
  1. Dennis R. Trinidad
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  2. Lyzette Blanco
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Correspondence to Lyzette Blanco.

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Trinidad, D.R., Blanco, L., Emery, S.L. et al. Associations Between Cigarette Print Advertising and Smoking Initiation Among African Americans. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 4, 515–522 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-016-0253-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-016-0253-9

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