Virginia Slims is a brand of cigarette manufactured by Phillip Morris. The brand was introduced in 1968 and directly marketed to young, professional women, under the famous slogan, "You've come a long way, baby." Some media watchgroups considered this Virginia Slims marketing campaign to be responsible for a rapid increase in smoking among teenage girls.[1] Later campaigns have used the slogans, "It's a woman thing," in the 1990s, and "Find your voice." A report by the Surgeon General of the United States has interpreted these marketing strategies as attempting to link smoking "to women's freedom, emancipation, and empowerment."[2] This report also tied the increase of smoking among teenage girls to rises in sales of Virginia Slims and other "niche" brands marketed directly to women.
Virginia Slims are much narrower (21mm circumference) than ordinary cigarettes (hence, "Slims"), and are also longer than normal "king-sized" cigarettes, sold only in longer 100's and 120's, to give the cigarettes a more "elegant" appearance and ostensibly to reduce the amount of smoke they produce. They are also sold in "Superslims", "light," "ultra-light," and menthol varieties. The packaging is white with vertical colored stripes running along the left side.
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