A report was released by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, saying tobacco marketing and depictions of smoking movies are what encourage teens to smoke. Furthermore, the report stated that tobacco is among the most heavily advertised products.
It was found that manufacturers of cigarettes in America spent $13.5 billion in 2005 on advertising and promotion, which means that they spent $37 million a day.
The senior scientific editor of the report, Dr. Ronald Davis, said, "The media have been used to promote cigarettes and smoking through infamous advertising icons, such as the Marlboro Man and Joe Camel, and through tobacco images in Hollywood movies."
According to Davis the report presents "the most current and comprehensive analysis of the scientific evidence on the impact of these forces, and other media exposures, on beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours concerning tobacco use."
As a smoker I can't remember the last time I watched a Hollywood film and got an urge to smoke, as there are no movies anymore with smoking in them. The ones that do feature smoking usually have a rating on them that does not allow teenagers to view these films. Why aren't films about drugs, like heroin, blamed for people becoming drug addicts. It just doesn't seem to make sense.
[Via: cbc.ca]
The popularity of menthol cigarettes is on the rise with young people. At Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), researchers have found that the levels of menthol in certain brands of cigarettes have been manipulated deliberately in order to attract young smokers.
When menthol levels are changed a bit then smokers get the feeling that they are smoking a milder cigarette.
Menthol actually softens the harsh flavor of cigarettes without decreasing the amount of nicotine transferred to the body.
Howard Koh, Professor and Associate Dean for Public Health Practice at HSPH said, "For decades, the tobacco industry has carefully manipulated menthol content not only to lure youth but also to lock in lifelong adult customers."
These are the types of things that should given a bit more attention instead of such a great amount of time and energy into creating smoking ban.
[Via: ScienceDaily.com]
Teens are the next generation of smokers, which is why they are vital to the tobacco industry. They [tobacco industry] is interested in keeping their profit margins high, which is why they go to any means possible to get teenagers smoking.
Many tobacco companies will spend nearly $100 million on advertising to put themselves in a better light. Advertisements for cigarettes are usually found in magazines in countries where that's legal, which have a large audience of young people.
According to a certain poll of teens and adults, teenagers are more likely to remember a tobacco ad that they have seen in the past couple of weeks than adults. Teenagers feel that they are target by tobacco companies and they feel it is still easy for them to buy tobacco.
This is direct proof that the problem of tobacco addiction cannot be stopped with tobacco bans, what needs to be think about is the number of young people that become addicted to tobacco.
