We all know that kids do not start smoking at an eighteen they start well before that. Cigarette Company's would never survive if underage people did not smoke. The next generation would not smoke and they would go bankrupt. Joe Camel is the perfect example that people point to that targeting a young age for smoking is wrong. Everyone when they were forced to think about that issue agreed that the Cigarette Company's were wrong and they should not try to target younger audience.
Cigarette commercials do try to influence kids to smoke.
They have to in order to be on top of the game. Advertising is an industry just like politics or entertainment. The people who sell themselves the best stay on top. In order to sell products people really do not pay attention to ethics or moral issues. Selling products such as cigarettes to target younger kids is wrong, no matter what way you look at it.