The latest
Cigarettes have re-emerged as a cultural symbol in celebrity photos, fashion magazines and social media videos after years of declining visibility and growing social disapproval.
Stars including Dua Lipa, Gracie Abrams, Kylie Jenner and Hailey Bieber have been photographed with cigarettes. Social media accounts and videos are also reviving smoking scenes from films and television, presenting them through the lens of fashion and nostalgia.
The rise in cultural visibility does not necessarily mean more people are smoking. A U.S. study published in 2025 found that cigarette use had declined substantially over the previous seven years, suggesting the clearest change is in smoking’s image and social status.
Details
- Nostalgia: Some young people associate cigarettes with Old Hollywood, 1990s culture and analog objects that contrast with modern digital products.
- Limited rebellion: Celebrity observers say smoking can project a rebellious image without the immediate consequences associated with other behavior.
- Wellness backlash: The shift follows years of idealized lifestyles centered on exercise, healthy food and polished appearances.
- Pandemic effect: Some social smokers link their return to cigarettes with changing attitudes toward life and death after the coronavirus pandemic.
- Platform influence: Short videos and dedicated social media accounts are recasting smoking as part of an aesthetic or social identity.
- Marketing legacy: Researchers say decades of tobacco advertising established lasting links between cigarettes, glamour, romance and social popularity.
- Public policy: The U.S. administration eliminated the Office on Smoking and Health and withdrew a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes, raising concerns about weaker tobacco-control efforts.
- Social behavior: Some smokers describe cigarettes as a reason to take a break, go outside and speak with others away from their phones.
- Health risks: Experts stress that smoking remains a leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States.
Between the lines
Cigarettes’ return to photographs and digital content does not necessarily reflect a comparable recovery in sales. It does reveal a cultural shift that gives a well-known health risk renewed symbolic appeal at a time when consumers are increasingly anxious about newer and less familiar threats.
What to watch
Attention now turns to whether smoking’s changing social image affects use among young people and how weaker tobacco-control programs and celebrity-driven content influence future behavior.
