Printable cigarette coupons are not a new invention of the computer age. Granted, when anyone today speaks of printable cigarette coupons, it is usually assumed that the person is referring to a computer user logging on to a website, downloading a coupon and then printing it with the help of their home printer. While this may be true in almost all of today’s cases, the history of the printable cigarette coupons evidences that they used to be marketing tools.

Take for example the store that in 1904 introduced the first printed cigarette coupons. Commissioning a professional printer to print cigarette coupons which would then be handed out in public settings, the original coupons entitled the bearers for discounted packs of smokes from a new shop that was due to open up shortly. This generated a buzz of popularity for the store, and many new customers flocked to the new business to take advantage of this offer. By only being redeemable at that particular store, the business guaranteed that it would get a lot of customers who might later on turn into repeat customers.

Of course, printable cigarette coupons did not always mean that they could be redeemed for cigarettes only. Take the 1936 German company that created printable cigarette coupons which could be exchanged for a coffee table book featuring Adolf Hitler. Blatantly a propaganda tool, the Nazi party had found a surprising outlet for its message, and the smoking public was eager to acquire this book which was professionally put together and marketed.

A while later in the United States some companies commissioned printers once again to print cigarette coupon pieces that could be redeemed with the company for goods such as t-shirts, hats, blazers, blankets, and even tents. This way the coupon was utilized to further brand recognition but also to give the appearance that the brand of cigarette the smoker was favoring was giving something of tangible value back. At this point in time, these programs have been discontinued in the wake of smoking advertising bans.

Probably today the free printable cigarette coupons are the ones every smoker knows best. There are ones downloaded from websites that offer the visitor to print Winston cigarette coupon offerings simply in exchange for an email address. Who knows what the future will hold for these little pieces of paper; one thing is for certain, however, they will not go by the wayside!