You cannot look in a magazine, newspaper, or journal without seeing either an advertisement or a story about the tobacco industry. It is an industry surrounded by controversy and debate everyday. The tobacco industry is among the largest industries. Being an industry that big, means big problems come success. Tobacco companies are involved in hundreds of law suits each year. Most of us only hear about the controversy and the lawsuits that follow the tobacco industry. This paper will provide you with a deeper knowledge on the various forces affecting the tobacco industry, its marketing procedures, and will include important aspects like industry threats and successful and unsuccessful companies.
HISTORY.
The tobacco industry was one of the first industries in America. The people of the pre-Columbian Americas first used tobacco in the early 1600s. "Native Americans apparently cultivated the plant and smoked it in pipes for medicinal and ceremonial purposes (The Tobacco Industry, 1998)." Christopher Columbus brought a few tobacco leaves and seeds back to Europe. "Most Europeans did not consume tobacco until the late 16th century, until adventurers and diplomats like France's Jean Nicot, for whom nicotine is named after, began to popularize its use (The Tobacco Industry, 1998)." .
It was not until the 1880s that the tobacco industry became a major economic force in America. After 1880 it did not look back. By 1890 sales of smoking and chewing tobacco had doubled from their 1880s level, and cigar sales had tripled. By 1905,it was estimated that the annual expenditure on the 400 million pounds of tobacco products that were produced was nearly 500 million dollars (McGowan, 1995). In 1964-1984 the tobacco industry only showed growth of 1 percent per year. Although, the margin on sales increased to about twenty cents on every dollar. Many factors contributed to this slow growth. A major reason for the slow growth was a move by the Public Health Cigarette Act of 1969 (McGowan, 1995).