February is Black History Month, a month about celebrating and recognizing African Americans for achievements and contributions that have impacted society while highlighting the culture, resilience, and the struggle that Black people have gone through and continue to face. We would like to take the opportunity to highlight tobacco use and its effects on the African American community.

Tobacco companies do not have your best interests at heart, nor will they ever. There is a long history of tobacco companies using donations to historically Black colleges (HBCUs) to influence tobacco use among African Americans (CDC). They are also known to give money to influential African American people, organizations, and officials to boost sales. Tobacco companies typically place more advertisements in magazines that show large numbers of African American readers in an effort to get lifelong customers.

Tobacco companies also use various marketing strategies that target the Black community (CDC). Advertisements tend to be used more heavily in stores with mostly African American customers. Moreover, low-income Black communities are more likely to have more stores that sell tobacco products than other communities (Counter Tobacco).

Menthol and flavored products also target the Black community. Due to menthol’s minty flavor, it can mask the taste of tobacco. This can not only make it feel easier to smoke but it also is soothing to the lung’s airways, and thus it leads to an individual developing a greater dependence on nicotine (American Lung Association). The aggressive marketing of menthol cigarettes to the Black community can be traced all the way back to at least the 1950's, that’s 75 years! Menthol advertisement campaigns in the 1970’s and 1980's intentionally used Black models and hip-hop icons to push menthol cigarette use onto the Black community (CDC). In 2019, around 58% of African American youth aged 12 to 17 that reported smoking cigarettes were using menthol cigarettes. In that same year, around 85% of Non-Hispanic Black adults that reported smoking used menthol cigarettes (CDC).

During this month, we ask that you be conscious of these advertising tactics and the disparities that exist.