Way back when, RJ Reynolds touted it’s Camel Cigarettes by saying that “More Doctors Smoke Camels”, and that this statement was based on a nationwide survey.
Was this “survey” scientifically and statistically valid? With all the shenanigans that Big Tobacco ad executives were up to back then I wouldn’t be surprised if the “survey” was contrived and was not scientifically rigorous.
It was a ‘scientific fact’ that was created by the William Esty Advertising Company using the rigorous testing methodology below, according to this site. (they have a lot of other cigarette advertising claims through the ages and their explanations)
Tobacco companies conceived of these sorts of ads in an era when serious questions were starting to be raised about the health effects of smoking, both in medical journals and the popular press (the American Cancer Society issued warnings as early as 1944). Showing doctors smoking was intended to be reassuring.
Such ads are still being used to exploit the public, but now it’s “alternative medicine” advocates displaying them to argue that doctors were wrong about smoking, therefore their views on health care and medical quackery cannot be trusted now.
At one point Camel was the best-selling cigarette in the U.S. Then it was Lucky Strike. So at a given point it’s quite possible that out of any group of 113,597 people, (particularly people who would tend to be older and less likely to change brands) you could find more of them smoking Camels.
And you’ll notice that the copy points out that doctors like Camel’s the same way as us regular folks - because they *taste *good.
It’s just like current claims by drug companies that Tylenol* is the “pain reliever most used in hospitals”. The drug companies sell Tylenol to hospitals for a very low cost, or even give it free. Do enough of that, and you can honestly state that it is the “most used”.
That’s generally done only with a fairly new medication, to gain market share. Once it’s well known, they stop doing this and raise the price a lot.
So Doctors got Camels for free, so they smoked them. Notice that the ad never says “Doctors buy more Camels than any other brand.”
*Used for example only; I don’t think they do this for Tylenol any more.