Let’s try to learn something from the four photos I’ve just posted.

Looking again, we observe that these photos all have a few things in common:

1. Black & White

2. Straight face

3. Sharp, clean attire

4. Cigarettes

But I want to examine that last one in particular.

Cigarettes are an example of something that become cool almost purely through the marketing genius of the tobacco industry. Big Tobacco paid their way into pop culture with big money through mediums like Jazz & Hollywood. Don’t take my word for it though, click the links. You might just learn a thing or two.

So what does this mean? Usually something is only cool until it catches on. Then it’s not cool. Millions of people around the world smoke cigarettes on a regular basis, and I’m not saying all of them are cool, but generally speaking the consensus seems to be that smoking is a cool thing to do. And it’s been that way for DECADES. Cigarettes are somewhat of an abnormality in the realm of cool not just because of its corporate roots, but also for how deeply entrenched and enduring these roots are in our culture. Think about it. If ‘cool’ is something that can be bought by the masses and manipulated by corporations, what does that say about ‘cool’? And perhaps more importantly, what does that say about the masses?