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One of the most sustained criticisms of advertising is its promotion of tobacco consumption. Each year, an estimated 438,000 Americans die from diseases related to nicotine addiction and poisoning. Still, for a long time, tobacco companies kept cranking out ad campaigns designed to win over new customer segments, which often included teenagers.

The government’s position regarding the tobacco industry began changing in the mid-1990s. At that time, new reports revealed that tobacco companies had known that nicotine was addictive as far back as the 1950s and had withheld that information from the public. Recent settlements between the industry and states have put significant limits on advertising and marketing of tobacco products. For example, ads cannot use cartoon characters such as Joe Camel, because such characters appeal to young people. And companies can’t show ads on billboards or in subway or commuter trains, where young people might be vulnerable to them. In June 2009 President Obama, himself a professed addicted smoker since his teen years, signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The act allows the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lessen the nicotine in tobacco products and block misleading cigarette packaging labels that say “low tar” and “light.” Despite these restrictions, tobacco companies still spend about $13.1 billion annually on U.S. advertisements—more than twenty times the amount spent on antitobacco public service spots.