Cigar Weekly

"I smoke 'em cos my name's on them," a chubby character called Reg cheerily told us of his Regal cigarettes from billboards in the early Nineties, covering up the last two letters on the label. At a time when smoking was far less politicised, Reg was encouraging us all to indulge in a little bit of brand loyalty.

That was the argument of the multinational corporations behind the adverts. They were not encouraging people to smoke - especially not young people - merely advising those who already puffed as to where they might maximise their pleasure.

At the time it seemed perfectly reasonable: smoking advertisements seemed to be in the same category as those for alcohol. Only doctors and hard-core campaigners appeared to get upset about them. In fact, smoking was associated with some of the most memorable advertising campaigns of the past two decades - not least that featuring Reg.

Remember Marlboro man? That iconic John Wayne-alike, whose cowboy hat and rugged complexion came into their own when he dragged - slowly, thoughtfully - on a Marlboro Red? He was a man of his time. Horses would gallop incessantly in the background, whipping up a dust storm. "Come to where the flavour is," said the gravel-voiced narrator. "Come to Marlboro Country".

Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes featured jet-setting super-rich playboys in sporty scenarios draped with drop-dead gorgeous babes sharing a Stuyvesant on a beach or over a game of roulette. Other famous campaigns included the slogans "Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet" and "You're never alone with a Strand."

And yet we shall never see the likes again. First they vanished from telelvision screens, then billboards, and then magazines. Then came the ban on actually smoking in public places: first in Scotland and Northern Ireland, then in the rest of Britain.

Now politicians north of the border appear to be leading the way again. It seems only a matter of time before cigarette branding is removed even from the shops that sell them. To be aware of tobacco branding, it appears you will soon have to go into a shop and ask for the hidden product. Rarely in the history of marketing has there been such an abrupt turnaround in public perception. The speed of the transformation, from cool and cultured to ugly and unacceptable, has been remarkable. How did we get here?

An early foray came in 1999. Tessa Jowell, the then health minister, brought forward laws to ban all billboards, newspaper and cigarette promotions - two years before the rest of Europe. In 1997, an EU directive planned to phase out advertising by 2001 but New Labour wanted to stay ahead of the pack. Parliament, which until 2001 sold its own brand of cigarettes, then pushed through the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002, most of which came into effect in February the following year. In July 2003, sponsorship of sporting events was also banned. As a result Formula One, which had for years been a high-octane, hours-long advert for smoking, was pacified and censored.

In May 2004 a few specific adverts were targeted and outlawed. In December 2004 all large adverts in shops, pubs and clubs were similarly expunged. The Health Secretary's latest plans suggest that all forms of cigarette promotion might finally be stubbed out.