Are celebrities like Charli XCX and Addison Rae making smoking “cool” again?

As we grapple with the 16:00 darkness, kid’s summer may be over, but the concept of being a kid – in the words of singer Charli XCX, “a pack of cigarettes and a Bic lighter” – remains.

Rosalia gave Charli XCX a bunch of cigarettes for her birthday, Addison Rae smoked not one but two cigarettes at the same time in her music video for “Aquamarine,” and actor Paul Mescal said he was getting in shape for “Gladiator II.” Refuse to quit smoking.

The risks of smoking are well known and it remains the leading cause of preventable death in the UK, killing almost 78,000 people every year.

Dr Misra-Sharp, a GP and cancer specialist, said even small amounts of smoking increased the risk of serious diseases such as lung cancer, which has a five-year mortality rate of up to 90 per cent.

Still, singers, actors and influencers appear to be bringing smoking back into fashion — quite literally, with cigarettes reappearing as accessories on the New York Fashion Week runways earlier this year.

So why are cigarettes being glamorized again?

Lucy, a 20-year-old college student, said she recently started smoking because “it’s just what everyone does.”

Almost all her friends smoke, and she says it’s not just a habit, but a sense of beauty.

“I definitely think everyone trying to be a kid influenced people to start smoking, because Charlie himself said if you really wanted to embody that vibe, you had to have a pack of cigarettes.”

Chari XCX isn’t the only celebrity to unintentionally become a so-called vaping influencer.

There are now Instagram accounts sharing photos of hundreds of celebrities including Dua Lipa, Chappell Roan and Anya Taylor-Joy smoking.

The smoker stereotype may once have been an old, fat man with rotting teeth, but that’s now been replaced by young, attractive celebrities clutching Marlboro Gold and pouting enigmatically at the camera.

The aesthetic of these smoking stars is reminiscent of the ’90s, when the likes of Kate Moss and Jennifer Aniston would wear low-rise jeans and baby T-shirts with a cigarette dangling from their lips.

Journalist Olivia Peter says The cigarette has become a symbol of our nostalgia for a carefree, frivolous and hedonistic past, and it’s making a comeback in pop culture.

Emerald Fennell’s seductive and scandalous thriller Saltburn perfectly sums up the mid-1990s and reminds us of smoking indoors It’s legal time.

Not only does the movie feature a promotional photo of Jacob Elordi’s character smoking shirtless, but smoking is such an integral part of the film that actor Archie Madekwe (who plays Farley) requested cigarette lessons because he had never smoked before.

under the truth initiativeThe anti-smoking nonprofit health group earlier this year had smoking themes in nine of the 10 films nominated for the top Oscar, up from seven the year before.

Some of the biggest songs of 2024 also feature tobacco imagery – Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga’s “Die With A Smile” shows Gaga smoking a cigarette while playing piano and singing.

Jessica, 26, who works in marketing, said smoking “has become so normalized again”.

“A few years ago I didn’t know anyone who smoked, but now it seems like everyone is smoking and you kind of forget how bad it is for you.”

A recent Cancer Research Center estimate shows that around 350 young people in the UK still smoke every day, with nearly one in ten 15-year-olds saying they smoke sometimes.

But overall, the number of young people smoking is falling – official estimates show less than 1 in 10 young people in the UK smoke – down from a quarter of 18 to 24-year-olds 12 years ago compared to a sharp decline.

While the number of young people smoking is falling, the popularity of e-cigarettes has soared – one in seven 18-24-year-olds who never smoked regularly now use e-cigarettes.

Jessica used to smoke e-cigarettes, but she said “everyone is vaping now, it’s just not cool anymore” – and the normalcy of vaping seems to be causing some people to switch to cigarettes.

In a recent TikTok video, singer Addison Rae responded to a question about e-cigarettes by saying, “Ugh, I hate e-cigarettes. Just smoke a cigarette!”

American doctor James Hook told the BBC that he had seen cases of young people starting to smoke again after vaping.

He believes the glorification of smoking by celebrities means cigarettes “give young people a certain credibility that those older than them don’t have to work hard for”.

He added that many of them “imitate older people who are considered mature, stylish or attractive”.

Dr Hook also said a tougher government stance on smoking could encourage people to fight back.

“There will always be people who challenge the status quo, so it’s no surprise that bans on certain things only add fuel to the fire and pose a threat to a person’s sense of independence.”

The government is planning one of the world’s toughest smoking laws that will eventually ban the sale of cigarettes in the UK, as new laws will effectively increase the legal age at which people can buy cigarettes by one year a year.

With governments determined to eradicate this deadly habit, the resurgence of cigarette and vaping influencers may be more of a passing trend than a lasting cultural shift, especially since its appeal is no longer the act itself, but It’s about beauty and culture.