Anne Landman's Daily Document: FUBYAS, Coolness and Blacks
Daily Doc: FUBYAS, Coolness and Blacks
The Decline of the Coolness Segment Among White FUBYASRJR, Nov. 9, 1984
Bates No. 507545628 -5629
February 7, 2000
Cigarette companies often express their certainty that advertising does not influence young people to smoke. Instead, they tell us, peer pressure is the problem--and of course they have nothing to do with that.
This R.J. Reynolds document laments "The Decline of the Coolness Segment Among White FUBYAS." A "segment" is a group of consumers who purchase and smoke a particular brand of cigarettes. For example, Marlboro and Camel constitute the "virile segment," Misty and Virginia Slims are the "feminine segment". The "Coolness segment" represents, among other things, the "easier-to-take," lighter cigarettes that make good "starter brands" for young people. They are often advertised with "cool" green colors, waterfalls, flowing water, clear skies, snow-capped mountains, etc. These are also the brands that come in menthol, too. Remember also that the acronym FUBYAS is RJR's insider-term for young people and stands for for First Usual Brand Younger Adult Smoker.
This document links the decline in sales of RJR's SALEM brand (their "coolness" cigarette) in part to the brand's "strong, negative association with Blacks." This in turn leads to speculation that the problems with sales may have started with school integration. From this we can see how very sociological the tobacco industry is.
Also notice how RJR links the decline in sales of this brand to a lessening of peer pressure to smoke the brand. Since the industry claims that they don't want young people to smoke, you would think they would be overjoyed by a decline in peer pressure to smoke. Instead, this document shows the opposite--that they rely on peer pressure to sell cigarettes, and consider it a minus when peer pressure to smoke their brand subsides.
CITATION
Title: DECLINE OF COOLNESS SEGMENT AMONG WHITE FUBYAS
Type of Document: Report
Author: N/A (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company)
Date: 19841109
Page Count: 2
Site: RJR Tobacco Company Document site http://www.rjrtdocs.com/ (newly revamped)
Bates No. 507545628 -5629
URL: Despite the RJR site being newly-revamped, it still does not support the easy transfer of URLs. The best way to find this document is to use the new "Quick Search" feature provided on the site, and type or cut-and-paste the entire name of the document into the search box, like this "Decline in Coolness Segment Among White FUBYAS" (without quotation marks, and not case-sensitive).
QUOTES
I. BACKGROUND
The findings of the Younger Adult Smoker Program show the Coolness segment to be in severe long-term decline among white younger adult smokers.
Given the importance of younger adult smokers to the long-term vitality of any segment--and SALEM's dependence of white younger adult smokers -- it is essential for RJR to identify the reasons behind the Coolness segment's declining appeal.
II. RECOMMENDATIONS
..The hypotheses listed below have been suggested as causes of the problem...
For certain/many white YAS [Younger Adult Smokers], Coolness brands are strongly and negatively associated with Blacks. Kool and Newport are associated with Blacks, and SALEM is not, but SALEM is not a viable YAS alternative for other reasons. Q. There is evidence that the decline is linked in time to school integration. Does a more complete analysis bear this out? ...In geographic areas with very small black population, Kool lost favor for some unknown reason (or perhaps even here because of association with Blacks). White FUBYAS were forced to turn away from the segment because no other Coolness brand was viable to them. ...If we assume that in years past, peer pressure to smoke resulted in adoption of easier-to-take Coolness brands among many FUBYAS, then perhaps the lessening of peer pressure to smoke in more recent years has disproportionately affected Coolness brands.
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Anne Landman, Regional Program Coordinator
American Lung Association of Colorado, West Region Office
Grand Junction, CO
(970) 245-2120
afoxland@gj.net
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