Fifty years ago, you could turn on the TV and watch Paul Hogan jumping out of planes with a carton of Winnie Reds, or smoking darts in front of a symphony. Then, by the mid-1970s, the federal government banned cigarette advertising.
No matter. Philip Morris and British American Tobacco execs quickly learned they didn’t need to ever actually show a cigarette being smoked. Big Tobacco shifted to pouring millions into brand advertising, sponsoring sporting events and whacking logos on Ferraris.
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Mark Di Stefano is Rear Window columnist, based in the Sydney newsroom. He previously worked at BuzzFeed, the Financial Times and The Information before joining the Financial Review as a media and tech correspondent. Connect with Mark on Twitter. Email Mark at mark.distefano@afr.com