I seem to remember menthol cigarette ads showing up on TV in the 1950s or early 1960s, well before cigarette ads were banned from TV. Kool, Salem, and Newport were popular. For some period, they came out with menthol versions of a number of popular brands. I smoked Carlton menthols for a while. (Quit all cigs in 1989.) My husband said they weren’t real cigarettes. I don’t have any idea what the market is like now, though.