For decades, skillful Madison Avenue advertising executives were able
to manipulate young people into smoking by turning cigarette smoking into
a status symbol, depicting smoking as alluring and debonair behavior. But
now, as was the case with the graphic ad showing everyone dropping dead,
tobacco marketers must now compete with bold anti-smoking campaigns that
show the negative side of tobacco use.
And, according to many of the young people being targeted, the
anti-smoking ads are beginning to have an effect.
(Several people in my family have smoked for years, but it never
bothered me, because it was normal,¦ Maryland resident Leanne Williams,
20, says. (It wasn¦t until I saw the ¦Truth commercials¦ that I realized
how harmful smoking is to your body.¦
And that¦s only part of the problem.
(Although smoking involves an initial decision to start, it quickly
becomes not a matter of free choice, but one of addiction,¦ writes Graham
Kelder, managing attorney of the Tobacco Control Resource Center, in the
article (What Every Progressive Christian Should Know About the Tobacco
Industry.¦
(Most nicotine addiction begins, not during childhood, but during
adolescence. Eighty-two percent of adult smokers began smoking as
teenagers.¦
Ironically, the tobacco industry is funding many of the tough
anti-smoking TV commercials designed to persuade young people not to take
up the habit.
Attorney generals in 46 states, five U.S. territories and the District
of Columbia had filed suits against the tobacco industry seeking
compensation for the millions of dollars it had lost on tobacco-related
illnesses. In 1998, a Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) was reached. Among
other things, it prohibits participating cigarette manufactures from
targeting youth through promotions, such as the Joe Camel campaign, and
advertising in teen magazines.
Established in 1999 under the MSA, the Washington-based American Legacy
Foundation developed national programs, such as (The Truth¦ campaign that
delivers disturbing facts about tobacco and industry¦s marketing
practices.
Internal tobacco company documents show that manufacturers have been
targeting (young adult blacks¦ for more than three decades.
A Philip Morris document, written in July 1974, states, (The first
observation is that Marlboro would probably have a very difficult time
getting anywhere in the young black market. The odds against it there are
heavy. Young blacks have found their thing, and it¦s menthol in general
and Kool in particular.¦
R.J. Reynolds, in a May 9, 1984 document, notes: (Since younger adult
Blacks overwhelmingly prefer menthol cigarettes, continued emphasis on
Salem within the Black market is recommended. Salem is already positioned
against younger adults. With emphasis on the younger adult Black market,
Salem may be able to provide an alternative to Newport and capitalize on
Kool¦s decline.¦
Not surprisingly, most Blacks smoke the three most heavily advertised
brands: Newport, Kool and Marlboro. Almost 80 percent of Black teens smoke
Newport, about double the Black adult rate for that brand. That troubles
anti-smoking activists because menthol cigarettes have higher
concentrations of carbon monoxide and have higher absorption of nicotine.
Some research suggests that mentholated cigarettes may pose a greater risk
of both lung and bronchial cancer.
If any progress is to be made in lowering the smoking rates, it must
begin with young people.
A recent study published in the Journal of Health Economics
found that (states with the best funded and most sustained tobacco
prevention programs during the 1990s˜Arizona, California, Massachusetts
and Oregon˜reduced cigarette sales more than twice as much as the country
as a whole, 43 percent compared to 20 percent.¦
The Arizona Department of Health Services has an aggressive (Ashes to
Ashes: Tobacco is a Lethal Legacy¦ campaign developed for Blacks. With the
assistance of Southwest Dimension, Inc., a Black-owned Phoenix firm, the
department has developed one commercial that states: (There¦s a history
between tobacco and African-Americans. We were forced to pick, clean and
carry it, and the tobacco industry has specifically targeted us for years.
Now, generation after generation, we are plagued with tobacco addiction
and chronic disease. Take your power back. Cut the ties with tobacco and
move on to a life of good health and hope.¦
Eshman Norris lives in California, another state that has an impressive
smoking prevention program.
(Smoking cigarettes is not the thing to do these days,¦ says the
25-year-old Los Angeles resident. (Everyone in my generation knows how
unhealthy smoking is. We know that smoking causes cancer, tooth decay, bad
breath and ages you˜it¦s not worth it.¦
Amanda Rosette, 21, a physical therapy doctorate student at the
University of Southern California, agrees.
(Because I had a health-related major while in college, I¦m completely
aware of the health risks of smoking,¦ she says. (Everything about
cigarettes is disgusting. Why would you want to take so many years off
your life simply by smoking cigarettes˜we all have to take responsibility
for our quality of life at some point.¦
According to the CDC, 45,000 Blacks die each year from smoking-related
illnesses. Moreover, 1.6 million Blacks under the age of 18 will become
regular smokers and about a third of those (500,000) will die prematurely
from a tobacco-related disease such as cancer, heart disease and pulmonary
disorders.
A University of Michigan study found that smoking among Black teens has
increased over the past decade. From 1992 to 2001, according to the
university¦s Institute for Social Research, smoking among Black 8th
graders increased from 5.3 percent to 8.2 percent, from 6.6 percent to
11.1 percent among 10th graders and from 8.7 percent to 13.3 percent among
high school seniors.
The Journal study concludes that the anti-smoking (truth¦ ads
may be effective in lowering some of those figures.
(The ¦truth¦ brand builds a positive, tobacco-free identity through
hard-hitting advertisements that feature youths confronting the tobacco
industry,¦ the report reads. (This rebellious rejection of tobacco and
tobacco advertising channels youths¦ need to assert their independence and
individuality, while countering tobacco marketing efforts.¦
Many adults began smoking when very little was known about the dangers
of smoking. But today¦s youth don¦t have that excuse.
(There is no excuse for people my age to start smoking because we have
so much information about the various effects smoking has on your body,¦
Ms. Rosette says. (We all have to go one day, but you don¦t have to write
your own death wish by smoking cigarettes.
