Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
These Are The Herbal Cigarettes They Smoke On <em>Mad Men</em>
By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 25, 2013
Modified Jun 12, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 25, 2013
Modified Jun 12, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
At the Mad Men Q&A at the Paley Center earlier this week, the cast discussed smoking on the show, noting they smoke herbal cigarettes made of "rose petals, marshmallow... no nicotine or tar." It's always been known they aren't puffing down real Lucky Strikes, but what is their herbal brand of choice? There are a few options out there but we were told by the folks at Mad Men today that their brand is Ecstacy.
There's actually no mention of marshmallows in Ecstacy herbal cigs, although the Honeyrose brand does offer herbal smokes with "marshmallow leaves and rose petals." And while Ecstacy touts their "all-natural herbs that are 100% tobacco and nicotine free" as a "terrific substitute for tobacco and great for anyone looking to quit smoking," keep in mind that smoking anything is worse for you than smoking nothing (end PSA). From the Q&A on Tuesday:
Brian Williams: What is in the cigarettes you guys love smoking?
John Slattery: …fake cigarettes…those are herbal cigarettes, who knows what’s in them…rose petals, marshmallows, I don’t know.
January Jones: I found a piece of plastic in one…
JS: (pointing) Plastic, very healthy.
BW: But you inhale a lot!
John Hamm: Yeah, there’s just no nicotine or tar…which makes them VERY healthy.
(laughter)
BW: Because you guys probably inhale cumulatively 80,000 of them each!
JH: Yeah, we should really own stock in the company.
Last year Jon Hamm discussed his character's smoking habit in an interview, claiming that he smoked 74 cigarettes while shooting the pilot alone—“You have to remember, though, that shooting a scene is not shooting one take of a scene. It’s four or five setups, and three or four takes on each setup. So every time you see me light a cigarette, I do it five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 times." As a result, he said, “You can hear from my voice that it’s a debilitating endeavour. We’re going for verisimilitude, though. People did smoke. And it creates a mood on the show." At Tuesday's Q&A, the cast mentioned that the cigarettes are burned down for them to the exact point they need to be at when shooting a scene—so at least they aren't frantically huffing a new one down each take.
To look further into whether there can be a lesser of two evils here, we plan on sticking Chris Robbins into a room with a carton of these and a direct line to the FDA until he comes out with a long form article on herbal cigarettes, à la his informative e-cigarettes piece.
Tagged
cigarettes
ecstacy
herbal cigarettes
mad men
original
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
What do you see when you record the whole of the boroughs?
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 5, 2026
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
It's a busy month at the branches.
By
Alec Hamilton
Arts & Entertainment
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
It's a busy month at the branches.
By
Alec Hamilton
NYC music in October: The Strokes, a Blink-182 cover band, and Polish experimentalism
By
Hank Shteamer
Are you a New Yorker? The Department of New Yorker Verification will now decide.
By
Hannah Frishberg
In the mood for a pastoral autumn experience? Try Queens.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .