In addition, ads were also coded for the content of the ad. This included number of men and women in the ad, whether the cigarette was being smoked, lit, and held. The breakdown of cigarette advertising by month is shown in Table 2. In general, January and February cigarette ads did not appear to be any more frequent than the average for the rest of the year. Instead, the months of April, June and August slightly surpassed February as the months with the most cigarette advertising.
Summer appears to be the period with the largest number of cigarette advertisements.
Thus, in the overall sample, there appears to have been no higher proportion of cigarette ads appearing in January and February than in the rest of the year since 1964. It is possible, however, that any disproportion exists as an even more recent phenomenon, requiring some lag after the Surgeon General's Report. One possible explanation for this decline is that tobacco manufacturers have found other strategies, such as promotions and direct sales, more cost effective. Another possible explanation is that they have become more strategic in their use of print advertising. To test the latter possibility, only the ads which appeared since 1984 were examined.