Lucky Strike – The Vintage Blush

Ever wondered how women began smoking?

Ancient prejudice prohibited women from smoking and drinking in public, besides suppressing their right to vote in the elections. This deprivation sparked a fire that was born to last! Literally. The Suffrage Movement of the 1920s changed the way women dressed, wore their hair and behaved in public. Shedding norms and over-coming social barriers led to the lighting of Torches of Freedom in America.

I’d like to call it – The Bad-assery reign!

While women in America were fighting for gender equality, the American Tobacco Company leveraged the social situation to get women up in flames!

Lucky Strike cigarettes garnered the most eyeballs with their propaganda working out just right – to get women (the other half of the market) smoking!

Reasons why?

The color of the season is the color of your addictions!

The iconic green color of the packaging was propagated by introducing it to the glamour world, organizing high tea and cultural fares, deeming it as the color of the season. Women identified with this and Lucky Strike cigarettes were elegantly held by women across the country.

Education? No. Grooming? No. A smoke, mademoiselle? Yes!

If you were a lady and smoked cigarettes in the 1920s, you’d be a sex goddess radiating sophistication and sexual appeal. To hell with the zero figures and the matte lips, cigarettes the way to go!

National Magazines too were all about that bud!

Today, we have numerous health magazines that promote anti-tobacco campaigns but there were days when magazines had some really appalling statement to make. Doctors, Physicians, Athletes not only advocated smoking but also posed for it.

And she thinks she’s made of Candy!

Attacking the candy industry was a win win for the tobacco lords. The slimming effects of smoking made the addiction attractive and helped women adopt the habit based on their insecurities! #TheClassicAdvertisingTrick

Also, Diamonds weren’t a girls best friend. Guess who was?