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Exposing the Truth: Action of the Month
Below please find: 1) Background information on the tobacco industry and “youth prevention” programs. 2) Directions for investigating and analyzing what the tobacco industry is doing in your and your partner’s state/country. 3) A list of follow up actions. BACKGROUND Philip Morris is running television ads in the U.S. encouraging parents to talk to their kids about smoking. They recently shipped millions of colorful, glossy “anti-tobacco” book covers with the message “Think. Don’t Smoke” to schools across the country. The company boasts on its website that it participates in 83 Youth Access Prevention and Youth No-Smoking Prevention Education Programs in 54 countries outside of the U.S., noting that the majority “have the support of third parties including governments, retailers and non-governmental organizations.” What’s up? As usual, no good. This past December, Action on Smoking and Health – UK and The Cancer Research Campaign released a brutal critique of the tobacco industry’s “anti-tobacco” youth programs. The report “Danger! PR in the Playground: tobacco industry initiatives on youth smoking” is a MUST READ. Copies can be downloaded from the ASH website at http://www.ash.org.uk/?international. Summaries of the report are also available in French, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Mandarin (let Essential Action know if you have trouble downloading the report and we will send you a copy in the mail). Based on internal tobacco industry documents, focus group testing and academic research, the report concludes: 1. The purpose of tobacco industry youth smoking initiatives is to prevent legal marketing restrictions and to produce good PR for the tobacco industry – it has nothing to do with reducing youth smoking. 2. The tobacco industry favors only measures that are known not to work well and may even be counter-productive – such as age-related restrictions, retailer schemes, exhortation from parents and teachers, and "finger wagging" messages that smoking is only for grown ups. These methods deflect attention away from the industry, are difficult to enforce, and present cigarettes as a "forbidden fruit" reserved for adults -- exactly what most young people aspire to be! 3. It resists or undermines those measures that are known to work – taxation, effective advertising bans, high prices, restrictions on smoking in public places, adult smoking cessation etc. Despite calls for co-operation over youth smoking and more research on "why teens smoke," the companies ignore, deny or attack the clear peer-reviewed evidence that does exist. These findings are similar to those of Steve Sussman, a University of Southern California researcher and Global Partnerships participant, who recently reviewed the industry’s youth “anti-tobacco” programs and concluded that they avoid the physical consequences of tobacco use, fail to discuss media influences and tobacco use, and provide little explanation regarding the potential for adult role modeling of tobacco use. They also fail to include activism activities, cessation materials, or to encourage youth to make commitments to never use tobacco. In December 2000, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published
the findings of a 15-year, federally funded smoking-prevention study conducted
by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. With 8,400 students
and 600 teachers involved from 40 school districts in Washington state,
the study was the largest and longest ever conducted on the topic. The
main conclusion? School-based smoking-prevention programs using a social-influences
approach had NO IMPACT on smoking behavior when compared to control groups.
Neighboring states like California and Oregon, that have adopted higher
tobacco taxes and aggressive counter advertising campaigns, have had much
greater success in reducing smoking rates. For a press release see Some of the most effective youth programs target the industry itself.
Florida’s SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco), famous for its
“truth” campaign, has been credited with reducing smoking by
18% among high school students and 40% among middle school students. To
learn about its latest initiative “SWAT without Borders” go
to Minnesota’s Target Market program, also a participant in the Global
Partnerships program, is modeled off of Florida’s SWAT. Their theme
is “They target us. We target them.” For more information see
Philip Morris U.S.A. wants the public to know that they want kids to “understand that smoking is not ‘cool’.” http://www.philipmorrisusa.com/DisplayPageWithTopic.asp?ID=57 Check out Philip Morris International’s website for some smooth
PR, BAT's website has a similar spin. Go to http://www.bat.com. On the left column click on "What we believe," then "About marketing." Scroll down and click on "action programmes against under-age smoking." The titles of the programs say it all: "It's the Law" (Australia); "Young People Can Say No!" & "Sell Cigarettes to Children? Not Me!" (Belgium); "I Made My Choice" (Uzbekistan); "La Ley Manda" (Guatemala). Meanwhile, BAT continues to hand out free cigarettes to young people
in Gambia: To view Philip Morris book covers sent to U.S. schools and a flyer from the tobacco industry’s “It’s Your Choice” youth campaign in Georgia (courtesy Global Partnerships participant Dr. Revaz Tataradze of the Georgian Medical Association) go to: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/aofm/0103/pics.html. The tobacco industry’s “anti-tobacco” programs often sound like their tobacco advertisements. The front sheet of [an Australian] PM school curriculum shows a depressed teenage woman and the phrases: "I'VE GOT THE POWER... Be proud of who you are... Enjoy being yourself... Know when and how to choose the best... Take responsibility for your own decisions... TRUST YOUR OWN DECISIONS." Note the uncanny similarities with the PM Virginia Slims "Find Your Voice" ads aimed at young women which say: "My voice reveals the hidden power within... I look temptation right in the eye and then I make my own decision... [in Swahili] Every person has elegance inside." -- Bert Hirschorn (Globalink, 10/4/00) “Youth Campaign for Latin America,” Cathy L. Leiber, Director,
Corporate Affairs, Latin American Region, 23 September 1994 “Increasing
pressure from anti-tobacco forces in Latin America has created the need
to explore various options to counter negative publicity…Taking into
consideration the emerging adverse legislative climate in the region,
we have an opportunity to create good will for the tobacco industry by
going public with a campaign to discourage juvenile smoking.” Philip Morris memo from Colin Goddard, “Pakistan – Meeting in London,” 9 July 1994. (meeting between PM, BAT, and Rothmans) “since the industry in Pakistan is facing unprecedented opposition, not only on the advertising front but on most other issues too (particularly ETS), the time had come for the companies to be considerably more proactive. This reflects the attitude that is currently prevailing in almost every country in the region to one degree or another. …An industry code will be written…so that it can be used as both a lobbying lever and an argument against not introducing formal legislation…it was proposed that we look at developing a minor’s programme that would show that industry to be willing to work cooperatively with the authorities in at least one area in which we have a mutual objective.” http://www.pmdocs.com/getallimg.asp?DOCID=2504024765/4767 "Young Smokers: Prevalence, Trends and Implications and Related Demographic Trends." Philip Morris Research Department, March 1981 "It is important to know as much as possible about teenage smoking patterns and attitudes. Today's teenager is tomorrow's potential regular customer, and the overwhelming majority of smokers first begin to smoke while still in their teens...It is during the teenage years that the initial brand choice is made...The smoking patterns of teenagers are particularly important to Philip Morris..." One of researchers who created this report, Dr. Caroline Levy, is now Senior Vice President of Youth Smoking Prevention at Philip Morris! (ever heard the story of the "wolf in sheep's clothing"?) For more quotes related to youth from internal tobacco industry documents
go to:
1. Investigate tobacco industry sponsored “anti-tobacco” youth
programs in your state or country.
2. Investigate ways in which the industry continues to market cigarettes
to young people, either blatantly or in general.
3. With your partner, compare and contrast the tobacco industry’s “anti-tobacco” youth programs in your states and/or countries.
4. With your partner, compare and contrast the tobacco industry’s “anti-tobacco” youth programs with your own youth programs.
1. Launch a joint campaign to abolish (or prevent) tobacco-industry sponsored “anti-tobacco” youth program in your and/or your partner’s state/country. You might:
Turkey recently became the first country to stop such a program after it had started. For more information see http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/intl-tobacco/2001q1/000422.html. 2. Discuss with your partner how to use the information gathered about
the industry’s anti-tobacco programs worldwide to enhance your own
tobacco control programs and activities.
3. Counter the tobacco industry’s PR with your own media advocacy
WHAT GPTC GROUPS HAVE DONE: UPDATE Further ideas? Questions? Contact: Essential
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