Yes Smoking Kills… cigarette-marketing campaign targeted young teenage girls
A team of researchers from the UC San Diego Cancer Center have published a paper in the journal Pediatrics where they assessed whether or not cigarette-advertising campaigns conducted after the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) have influenced smoking among adolescents. The MSA restricted the tobacco industry from advertising practices that targeted teens.
From a national study of 1036 adolescents (age 10-13) between 2003-08, 5 sequential telephone interviews were conducted, including the participant’s report of brand of “favorite” cigarette advertisements. The fifth interview, however, was conducted after the start of RJ Reynolds’ innovative “Camel No. 9″ advertising campaign in 2007.
Their results show that after the start of the Camel No. 9 advertising campaign, the proportion of girls who reported a favorite ad increased by 10 percentage points, to 44%. The Camel brand accounted almost entirely for this increase, and the proportion of each gender that nominated the Marlboro brand remained relatively stable.
The author’s conclusion was that even after the MSA, adolescents continued to be responsive to cigarette advertising, and those who were responsive were more likely to start smoking. Also, the recent RJ Reynolds advertising may be effectively targeting adolescent girls.
Top: Glamour magazine ad (February 15, 2007, issue) with the Camel No. 9 featured slogan “Light and luscious.” Bottom: Glamour magazine 2-page ad (November 2007 issue), which resembled a fashion spread. The campaign also featured promotional giveaways such as berry lip balm, cell phone jewelry, purses, and wristbands.
I have to say, I enjoy reading your blog. Maybe you could let me know how I could subscribing with it? By the way I found this site through Lycos.