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Consumption of Tobacco in a Consumer Culture |
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The Consumption of Tobacco in a Consumer Culture Why do people smoke cigarettes? ... The tobacco consumption of today has only been practiced for the last one hundred years showing just how quickly the tobacco companies became major influencing factors on our lives. Traditional Use of Tobacco The large and leafy tobacco plant is native to tropical America but can be grown in cooler climates. ... Many of the stories forewarned of the illness, suffering and death that would befall humans if they misused tobacco. Some of these teachings forbid humans to inhale the smoke or use tobacco for amusement. ... The smoke from tobacco that was burnt on sacred fires carried prayers to the spirit world. Tobacco was left on the earth as an offering of thanks and it was carried in medicine bundles or given as a special gift. The Cree mixed tobacco with a variety of other plants and named the mixture "kinnikinnik." As children matured, parents and grandparents taught them how to grow and mix tobacco. ... Elders made clear the spiritual value of the plant and cautioned against thoughtless use of tobacco. In spite of this, the general opinion and use of tobacco changed when the Europeans made contact with First Nations people in the 1400s. The Europeans immediately recognized the importance of tobacco in Native culture, even if they did not understand the spiritual meaning behind its use. Explorers and traders quickly began exploiting the value of tobacco as an important trade good. Native people made a distinction between their original "true tobacco" that they grew themselves and the tobacco grown in South America and imported by Europeans. They continued to use their own tobacco in religious ceremonies and began using the imported tobacco for recreational purposes. ... Columbus is claimed to have introduced the tobacco plant to Spain and it soon became available in other countries. During the 1500s "tobacco-houses" were established for smokers in Europe and pharmacies sold tobacco on prescription only. Birth of a Consumer Culture Prior to the days of mass production there was no universal consumer market and people produced many of the goods they used themselves. Handcrafted or machined consumer products existed, but they were most often the work of skilled tradesmen which made the products time-consuming to produce, and subsequently quite expensive. The common belief system of the time (based on the idea of satisfaction and contentment through commitment to work and honest labour) also impeded practices of consumption. Conspicuous consumption and the accumulation of products was also looked upon in disgust and was seen as a sign of lethargy or excessive frivolity. Consumption, therefore, wasnt a priority or even a possibility for most people, and was a reality for only a small part of the general population; it was in no way as widespread as it is today. ... Several anti-smoking groups were formed during the late 1800s and early 1900s to campaign for clean air, a restriction of tobacco sales to children and to warn of the health consequences of smoking. ... The majority of the campaigns were aimed at men as during this time it was generally the privileged male who smoked – Bourgeoisie However, the consumption of tobacco was very low in comparison to today’s society with consumers only smoking an average of 50 cigarettes per capita, per year. The end of the 1880s saw the invention of the cigarette machine, which made the manufacture of millions of cigarettes a year possible, creating the need for the tobacco industry to turn more people into consumers in order to make a profit. The phenomenon of mass consumption has only emerged in the past one hundred years and has lead to huge numbers of people consuming a variety of relatively cheap, industrially produced products such as cigarettes and microwave dinners. A significant change in the social and economic order has occurred, where consumption has become "the idiom of daily life" (Ewen), and the means to live by. With the emergence of this new lifestyle also came a growth in cigarette consumption with consumers smoking an average of 4,000 per capita in the late 60’s. Incidentally the rise in cigarette consumption paralleled the rise in lung cancer with half of all British people smoking in 1964. ... The population would have to be persuaded to welcome a lifestyle of consumption before the quantity consumed will match the quantity produced, subsequently altering the priorities and values of society. ... With the majority of smokers in the 1900’s being men, women represented a huge potential market for the tobacco industry. ... The tobacco industry knew that for smoking to become popular, it needed to be thought of as part of a courting ritual between men and women. ... Tobacco companies were also attempting to allay the health fears of smokers through advertising as early as the 1930s. ... Advertising, in conjunction with mass marketing, could broadcast information about consumer products to a wide audience. It was an effective way to influence the decisions of individuals on a mass scale, and a proficient way to propagate new values and a consumption-oriented ideology to a large market. It took a fundamental change in the culture from one that emphasized discipline, deferred gratification and production to one that emphasized spending, consumption, pleasure and leisure as a major element of the construction of this consumer culture. ... In 1925, advertisements proclaimed: "Indulge in a Lucky, the most pleasurable cigarette – Baudrillard The culture of consumption is now the ubiquitous culture form in today’s society: “the commodity system enjoys a kind of passively accepted legitimacy as the universal arena within most human needs are to be met…” (Stuart Ewen) Consumption has become an entire way of life with consumers ‘defining’ themselves with their purchases and consumption being seen as an ideal. |
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Title: Consumption of Tobacco in a Consumer Culture
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