Tobacco products are among the most heavily advertised products
in the U.S. - over 4 billion dollars were spent in 1994 alone
on cigarette advertising and promotion. (Federal
Trade Commission Report to Congress, 1994)
Teens (86%) are twice as likely as adults (35%) to smoke the three
most heavily advertised brands of cigarettes - Marlboro, Camel
and Newport. (CDC, "Changes in the cigarette
brand preferences of adolescent smokers -United States, 1989-1993,"
MMWR, 1994, 43:577-581)
Tobacco company expenditures for specialty gift items (such as
t-shirts, caps, sunglasses, key chains, calendars, and sporting
goods) that bear a cigarette logo increased by 122%, from $340
million in 1992 to $756 million in 1993. (Federal
Trade Commission Report to Congress, 1993)
Tobacco marketing dollars pay for promotional activities that
may have special appeal to young people, such as sponsoring concerts,
sporting events, and other public entertainment, distributing
specialty items bearing product names and logos, and issuing coupons
and premiums. (Federal Trade Commission Report
to Congress, 1993)
Tobacco advertising and promotion influence adolescents' decision
to begin smoking more than does peer pressure.
(Evans, N. , et al.,"Influence of Tobacco Marketing and Exposure
to Smokers on Adolescent Susceptibility to Smoking," Journal
of the National Cancer Institute, 1995, 87:1538-1545)
The sudden rise in adolescent smoking coincided with large-scale
cigarette promotional campaigns. (Pierce, J, and
Gilpin, E, "A Historical Analysis of Tobacco Marketing and
the Uptake of Smoking by Youth in the United States: 1890-1977,"
Health Psychology, 14:6:500)
A 1992 Gallup survey found that half of adolescent smokers and
one quarter of adolescents who do not smoke owned at least one
tobacco promotional item. (The George H. Gallup
International Institute, "Teenage Attitudes and Behavior
Concerning Tobacco," 1992)
Studies show that 30% of 3-year-olds and 91% of 6-year-olds can
identify "Joe Camel" as a symbol for smoking. (Fischer,
P.M. et al., "Does Tobacco Advertising Target Young People
to Start Smoking? Evidence from California," Journal of the
American Medical Association, 1994, 266:22:605-611)
Prior to the introduction of the Joe Camel campaign, Camel cigarettes
held no more than 3 to 4 percent of the youth market. One year
into the campaign, the youth share rose to 8.1 percent and by
1991 it was at least 13 percent. (CDC, "Changes
in the cigarette brand preferences of adolescent smokers -United
States, 1989-1993," MMWR, 1994, 43:577-581)
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