The Extremely Racist History Behind Menthol Cigarettes
By: Liberty Ann
Tags: Racism, History, Business, America, Culture

The Extremely Racist History Behind Menthol Cigarettes

Its marketization towards Black Americans

Menthol crystals that Lloyd “Spud” Hughes infused his tobacco with in 1925 | Image source: Wikimedia

Tobacco cigarettes have been a part of the American culture for over ninety years, specifically branded menthols. Along with it, lung cancer rates have increased in the past forty years — more predominantly in Black men, who are 30% more at risk.

“The tobacco industry has targeted African American communities in its advertisements and promotional efforts for menthol cigarettes.”

— Smoking and Tobacco Use via the Center for Disease Control (CDC)

The Origins of Mentholated Tobacco

In 1925, Lloyd “Spud” Hughes placed loose tobacco in a tin with his medicinal menthol crystals overnight. He wondered if it would make his smoking experience “cooler.” The next day, he rolled a menthol cigarette. He was pleasantly surprised that it had a minty taste and his theory proved to be correct. Hughes patented the creation a year later and founded the Spud tobacco company, which sold the very first mentholated cigarettes.

Other companies caught on, such as Brown & Williamson who introduced Kool menthol cigarettes in 1933. Subsequently, it became the standard, and at the time mentholated cigarettes only represented 2% of the tobacco market.

From 1933 to 1956, menthol cigarettes were marketed as special “throat” cigarettes to be smoked when the user had symptoms of a cough or cold. In the 1950s, companies were still advertising menthols as “healthy,” even after various disputes. Despite the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suing tobacco companies for false advertising, it didn’t stop companies from marketing their product any differently. However, tobacco companies realized they needed new strategies to sell their minty product.

Most store-bought cigarettes (even to this day) have some menthol additive. Regular cigarettes can contain as little as .003 mg of menthol, whereas mentholated ones have 0.1–0.45 mg.

1970 ad for Kool menthol cigarettes | Image source: Stanford University

Marketing to a vulnerable population

Beginning in the 1940s, the tobacco industry began developing a special focus on the Black population. After World War II, cigarette companies noted that more Black Americans were migrating away from rural areas, and by the 1960s, more Blacks had moved to the inner cities.

A growing community in urban areas increased the immediate need for specialized products, such as for hair and skin. More companies, Black and white owned, began producing products for this particular demographic.

Tobacco companies saw potential in marketing to an already vulnerable population, especially coupled with segregation. Menthol cigarettes took their place next to cheap liquor that was predominantly sold to poor and colored communities. By 1962, cigarette ads in magazines tripled in publications such as Ebony — which carried twice as many menthol cigarette ads than in magazines such as Life. Despite initially being marketed to white clientele in its earlier years, by the 1970s, the minty cigarette was the choice for Black Americans. By 1976, nearly 60% of Black smokers under thirty-five preferred Kool cigarettes.

Even with a lower overall cigarette usage than whites, Black men had higher chances of getting lung cancer due to mentholated cigarettes.

In the late-1970s, rumors sprouted that Kool cigarettes contained fiberglass. Another rumor claimed that the K in Kool signified the Ku Klux Klan and that the brand was a ploy to ultimately harm Black Americans.

Exploiting Culture

During the civil rights movement, Kool cigarettes became synonymous with youth and rebellion among the younger population. With its growing popularity in the 1950s, jazz music started being associating with menthol cigarettes.

1981 promotional poster for Kool Jazz Festival | Image source: Stanford University

From 1975 to 1984, Brown & Williamson brought together musical acts with the likes of B.B. King and Miles Davis and founded the Kool Jazz Festival — all while heavily advertising their cigarettes. They held twelve events before the brand began to decline.

In 1954, socialites Elaine and Louis Lorillard founded the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island. It still goes on to this day. Louis is distantly related to Pierre Lorillard, the founder of Lorillard Company in 1760 — the oldest tobacco company in the U.S. The company produced the Newport brand cigarettes (hence the name and location of the festival) until its 2014 acquisition by RJ Reynolds Tobacco.

Underhanded Generosity

The tobacco industry created an association that’s still apparent in the Black community today. In June of 2020, Altria, the parent company of Marlboro, donated five million to Black organizations at the peak of the Black Lives Matter protests in an effort to diffuse the growing scrutinization between tobacco companies and their considerable role in pushing for tobacco usage among Black Americans.

Richard Joshua, the founder of RJ Reynolds (now a subsidiary under British American Tobacco), was noted to support Winston-Salem University in North Carolina beginning in 1891. Since then, American tobacco companies have constantly given financial support to historically Black colleges and organizations for over 100 years. The industry has “invested” over twenty-five million dollars. From the 1960s to 1970s, cigarette companies prioritized supporting and donating to civil rights movements, which includes organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Urban National League.

Tobacco companies were the first in the U.S. to be indiscriminate when hiring colored employees, even for executive positions.

A Dying Market

The Master Settlement Agreement in 1998 implemented that tobacco companies would indefinitely pay the government to cover the costs of smoking-related illnesses. The amount is contingent on the number of cigarettes sold annually. Nearly twenty years after the agreement, about $119.5 billion has been paid. Tobacco-related illnesses claim up to 45,000 Black American lives each year.

The popularity of Kool cigarettes began to diminish as overall cigarette usage started to decrease with anti-smoking efforts. However, since 1993, Newport became the leader in mentholated cigarettes. By 1999, they claimed a 7.5% share of the approximately fifty billion cigarette market. The company released campaigns such as Newport Pleasure! in an effort to appeal to younger populations, which have been proven to be effective.

1990 article in TIME Magazine about Uptown cigarettes | Image source: University of Alabama

In 1990, RJ Reynolds spent up to seven million to launch a new brand to be marketed specifically to Black Americans: Uptown menthol cigarettes.

Almost immediately, a coalition of tobacco control activists accused the company of marketing a poisonous product to the Black community. The product has since then been abandoned.

An RJ Reynolds analyst stated: