12 Heartbreaking Letters Addressed To Joe Camel As If He Were Real

R.J. Reynolds eventually ended the Joe Camel campaign in 1997, but not without a fight. They challenged the accusations of insidious marketing in a legal battle before the pressure got too strong and forced them to settle out of court and pull the plug. The reason the company risked bad press for such a long time was simple: Joe was incredibly popular. Sadly, even some people of legal smoking age wanted this cartoon camel to be their friend.

Take these letters addressed to Joe Camel, for example. They are part of the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library, which was established to “house and maintain tobacco industry internal corporate documents produced during litigation between 46 U.S. States and the seven major tobacco industry organizations.” Many of the people writing to Joe were members of his V.I.P. club, a program where you could earn “C-notes” or “Camel Cash” that could go towards Camel merchandise. V.I.P. members often received letters back from the cartoon camel, usually signed “Stay Smooth, Joe.”

Joe Camel was a huge part of my life after my parents divorced. My dad’s house was full of his merchandise, catalogs, c-notes, etc. We fell hook, line, and sinker for the marketing. It was something we bonded over.

#meanwhile #bigtobacco