Menthol marketing

Editor's note: This column appears in the 2/24/22 print editions of The Freeman's Journal and Hometown Oneonta.

Its author, Jennifer Hill, is the Community Engagement Coordinator for Tobacco-Free Communities: Delaware, Otsego & Schoharie.

Seventy years ago, the tobacco industry launched an aggressive marketing campaign to persuade African Americans to smoke menthol cigarettes. The industry endeared themselves to Black communities by being among the first white-led businesses to hire African Americans for executive positions and use Black models, actors, and celebrities in TV, radio, and print advertisements for menthol cigarettes.

They infiltrated Black communities and Black culture by developing close relationships with respected Black institutions, churches, and leaders. The tobacco industry funded important Civil Rights organizations and endowed scholarships for African Americans. Tobacco company vans drove into Black neighborhoods and distributed free menthol cigarettes, especially to youth and young adults.

The tobacco industry's campaign has been highly successful. At its start in the early 1950s, only 5 percent of African American smokers smoked menthol cigarettes. By the early 1980s, over 80 percent did. Today, 7 in 10 Black youth ages 12-17 and about 85 percent of Black adults smoke menthol, compared with 29% of white adult smokers. Menthol cigarette sales