ForgotPassword?
Sign Up
Search this Topic:
Forum Jump
Jun 25 02 9:33 AM
Interact
Jun 25 02 7:59 PM
Jun 25 02 10:25 PM
Jun 25 02 10:57 PM
Jun 26 02 8:55 AM
Aug 20 03 4:30 PM
I was given a brand of cigarette yesterday I did not recognize from a 17 year old to use in the Palmolive bottle demonstration . Actually, it was an offshoot of a named brand cigarette, just a variation that I had not seen before. Its interesting but when I am dealing with younger smokers I often see these specialized brands pop up. Normally when I do clinics primarily comprised of adults I see the same old brands over and over again.
I thought I would see if any of our newer members had any stories, especially our younger ones that had any special insights to the brands preferred by youth, or just why you settled on the brand you ended up with in the end. Also interesting to note is how many of the people who first responded to this thread are now our Gold Members. I always like to see this. While the word "Gold" on a package or brand of cigarettes means nothing, just another fancy way to name or package a product, on our members names it means a lot. It means that for over a year that they have stuck to the promise that they made to themselves when they first joined up at Freedom--the commitment to never take another puff!
Joel
Aug 20 03 4:59 PM
I don't consider myself a very "new" member anymore - which is great (isn't it wonderful?!?), but I do consider myself a pretty young smoker, so I am going to respond to this.
I started smoking when I was 17, 10 years ago. Joel, you didn't name the brand you were talking about in your last post, a variation on a popular brand, but what comes to mind when I hear that is my favorite cigarette of all time, one I discovered in college -- because a select group of friends smoked them -- Kamel Red Lights. The box is sort of red and orange with the famous camel on it.
I graduated from college in 1998 and still up until the time I quit, "treated myself" to those. I don't know why I considered them a treat -- maybe it was the nostalgia factor or something. They were sort of like Camel Lights but a little bit less… harsh.
I started as most college students start -- on Marlboro Lights. Then I heard that the filter in Parliaments prevented your teeth from getting yellow, so I switched to those. Then, a few years later, when I really started smoking full-time, I decided I wanted to start smoking menthols, so I switched to Newport Lights. But then I remembered the Parliament non-yellow teeth thing, and I switched to Parliament Menthols. I was hooked on Paliament Menthols until a boyfriend came to visit me one weekend. The boyfriend smoked Camel Lights. I bummed one from him as he was leaving after the weekend, and it tasted SOOO good to not have that menthol factor added. I will never forget the taste of that Camel Light. I loved it. So I switched to Camel Lights. Then, about a year later, a friend of mine and her friends started smoking Kamel Red Lights. So I tried those. Loved them.
After the Kamel Red Lights I went back to Parliaments again. Once I had this variety of enjoyable brands, I switched between Parliaments, Kamel Red Lights, and Camel Lights, depending on my mood. I never smoked just one particular brand for any length of time. Never a menthol, though. Of course, when Marlboro Ultra Lights came out I smoked those for a while.
I moved to NYC for about a year, and while I was there I sort of knew I wanted to quit, so I switched to Capris… thinking that they were slim and light, and just "not as bad"… turns out, those babies were pretty harsh! But I stuck with them, alternating between them and Camel Lights for the next few years.
By the time I quit, I was back to plain old Marlboro Lights. It just seemed like they were sort of the "norm"… middle of the road cigs. But interspersed with those were always Camel Lights, and every so often, as a treat, Kamel Red Lights.
My last cigarette was a Marlboro Light, if I remember correctly. Yes, I think it was.
ComicForces 5 months 3 weeks 9 days
Aug 20 03 5:04 PM
Aug 20 03 5:07 PM
Aug 20 03 7:08 PM
Aug 20 03 7:52 PM
Aug 20 03 8:49 PM
I started out smoking Marlboro because it was so cool. When I joined the military, I switched to a Players, a menthol cigarette in boot camp because I felt it was the only choice I was allowed to make. For the past five years, I still smoked menthol, but I smoked generics because they were much cheaper.
I once saw someone else's study while in college of subliminal messages in advertising. It looked at the old cigarette TV advertisements. I was surprised to see how much glorification of death there was in those old advertisements. One I really remember (because it was my mother's brand) was a Kent advertisement. It showed a woman running in slow motion through a field of daisies while subliminally lying down in a coffin. I vaguely remember another advertisement showing a woman drowning. The point of the study was to show that a reason to start smoking or switch brands is because some people have a subconscious death wish. It's hard to know if you did or not when you began smoking or switched brands, but it's worth some thought. I know I don't have a death wish now or if I ever did. But, I know that now I enjoy life and want to be around to see my daughter grow up and have children of her own. I can accomplish life by NEVER TAKING ANOTHER PUFF!
Donna - Free and Healing for Twenty Seven Days, 3 Hours and 39 Minutes, while extending my life expectancy 5 Days and 15 Hours, by avoiding the use of 1629 nicotine delivery devices that would have cost me $118.24.
Aug 20 03 9:27 PM
Aug 21 03 1:03 AM
Aug 21 03 3:36 AM
Aug 21 03 4:37 AM
Aug 21 03 5:34 AM
Hmmmm, let's see 38 years ago I had this friend in my government class, at high school, that was so sophisticated and grown up beyond her years. Guess I looked up to her, but she was the one that introduced me to some kind of menthol cigarettes( in the girls restroom of my high school). Shame on us!! Anyway, we were standing on the toilet seats so our shoes wouldn't show and smoking away, like noone would smell it.. lol.... Oh my!! But, you know what happened, I quickly became addicted and I would smoke anything........ Anyhow, I found myself robbing my mom's ashtray, she smoked Pall Mall (unfiltered and strong). Only job I had back then was babysitting so I was short on cash, but when I had some, I bought Salems and Kools in the cigarette machine of the local drug store. In later years, I continued with my Salems and Kools. Loved the refreshing menthol . It seemed that the other cigarettes were dirty.. I had my fancy cigarette cases and tried every lighter you can think of. I mean, I was cool. Haha I even got my finger stuck in a cigarette machine at my job (in banking) . Yeah, I was on break and we had those things you pull the knob out... well when it slammed back, my finger was there .... an hour later someone had to take apart the machine and rescue me. Was having a real nicotine fit by then. To end up my story....... I smoked menthols or anything if I was out. As the years went on and the cost became a factor, I turned to the generics like Doral and Basics. Of course , I also bought the 100's to get more for my money and the lights because I was in denial about the affect it had on my health... At least I smoked lights, right? Oh dear..... even I knew better I think, but it sounded good in defense of those that thought I should quit smoking. As I relive all this now, I only wish I had it all to do over again... Oh, what I would give to go back and never have taken the first puff... Final note, if anyone is out there and reading this that has never smoked... DON'T DO IT.... if you are thinking of quitting..... DO IT NOW... I will never take another puff!!! sue Sue - Free and Healing for Four Months, Twenty Three Days, 2 Hours and 46 Minutes, while extending my life expectancy 20 Days and 3 Hours, by avoiding the use of 5805 nicotine delivery devices that would have cost me $843.79.
Aug 21 03 6:50 AM
Aug 21 03 5:19 PM
Aug 22 03 2:49 AM
Share This