| Coincidentally (or not), John Wayne died of lung cancer twenty-seven years after that spot aired; some of the last commercials he filmed were to ask people to stop smoking. Remember when the government made a big stink about Joe buy cigarettes in the nineties? They were outraged that more kids recognized Camel's cartoon carton-pusher than could ID Mickey Mouse. Camels were flying off the shelves and (presumably) into the tiny fingers of young children. This was nothing new, cartoon characters had been selling cigarettes for decades, particularly on television. |