Pushing Cool
Big Tobacco, Racial Marketing, and the Untold Story of the Menthol Cigarette
by Keith Wailoo
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date Nov 02 2021 | Archive Date Oct 07 2021
Talking about this book? Use #PushingCool #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
Police put Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold for selling cigarettes on a New York City street corner. George Floyd was killed by police outside a store in Minneapolis known as “the best place to buy menthols.” Black smokers overwhelmingly prefer menthol brands such as Kool, Salem, and Newport. All of this is no coincidence. The disproportionate Black deaths and cries of “I can’t breathe” that ring out in our era—because of police violence, COVID-19, or menthol smoking—are intimately connected to a post-1960s history of race and exploitation.
In Pushing Cool, Keith Wailoo tells the intricate and poignant story of menthol cigarettes for the first time. He pulls back the curtain to reveal the hidden persuaders who shaped menthol buying habits and racial markets across America: the world of tobacco marketers, consultants, psychologists, and social scientists, as well as Black lawmakers and civic groups including the NAACP. Today most Black smokers buy menthols, and calls to prohibit their circulation hinge on a history of the industry’s targeted racial marketing. In 2009, when Congress banned flavored cigarettes as criminal enticements to encourage youth smoking, menthol cigarettes were also slated to be banned. Through a detailed study of internal tobacco industry documents, Wailoo exposes why they weren’t and how they remain so popular with Black smokers.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780226794136 |
| PRICE | $33.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 392 |
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 832068
"As I looked closely into the industry's menthol project, I came to understand that menthol's history is layered with trickery that takes one's breath away - both figuratively and literally. I also came to see menthol's ascent as exemplary of the broader story of racial capitalism in America".
Holy moly. Keith Wailoo presented what can best be described as an incredibly coherent, well-researched history into the entire sordid history of the history of cigarettes, marketing-funded research and the racial background behind menthol cigarettes explicitly aimed at the poorer, black communities in the USA. It's like a dissertation, but way more engaging, frustrating and with a bunch of WTF moments (and imagery).
I found myself physically repulsed, verbally expressing disgust and rolling my eyes repeatedly. This is the impact of strong writing and a real first look into something my family have been personally affected by, but I've never bothered learning more about. The primary focus is the black community and menthol cigarettes, but don't be fooled. It covers Big Tobacco in general, every possible player in this dark game and the sordid lies and deceit carried out in knowingly promoting menthols as 'non-toxic' in-spite of contrary evidence.
I've wondered so many times why smoking is not only legal, but so prominent globally and this book has more answers than I could have wished for. US influence, especially in the 1900's, was so prominent that such an industry could thrive and spread internationally, with the impacts still felt today.
Thank you, Keith. I hated every single thing I read, but I couldn't put the book down and I believe it's an essential read for all.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
Megan G, Educator
I've been working on tobacco policy for 15 years, and can say that Keith Wailoo's book Pushing Cool is very impactful. The amount of time and research that went into this book is unparalleled. It paints a grim and accurate picture of the tobacco industry. An important read for anyone starting in tobacco policy and public health advocacy more broadly. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book for an honest review.
Readers who liked this book also liked:
