Pink Cigarette Ads Targeted Teen Girls?

A Camel cigarettes ad campaign from 2007 is coming under fire — and rightfully so — for targeting teen girls. The pink Camel No. 9 ads ran in magazines like Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Glamour, but were most popular with girls in the 12 to 16 year old range, according to a report by USA Today.

Though Camel says that they didn’t target teens, citing 85% of the readers of such magazines are over 18 years old, other promotional giveaways that went with the campaign — including flavored lip balm, cell phone jewelry, and pink purses — seem targeted to young girls.

In the study published today, 22% of teen girls surveyed said the Camel ads were their favorite. And, the study also found that teenagers who could name a favorite cigarette ad were 50% more likely to smoke.

Camel pulled the ads a year later, but lead researcher John Pierce finds the actions deliberate. “These are the same people that brought us Joe Camel, a very big campaign with multiple different components,” he said. “Now it seems like what they’re doing is trying a campaign, and then when people complain, they change and do something else.”