Effect of Tobacco Industry Advertising Messages
messages“washoverthem”astheygrowolder.Adolescentsabsorbthesemessagesvery muchmoreavidlybecause,whileenroutetodevelopingtheiradultidentities,theymonitor
verymuchmoresensitivelyeverythingthatoccursintheadultworld [13,53]
. Asampleof229childrenaged3to6yearswastestedwithadsfeaturing“OldJoeCamel”:
30ofthe3-yearoldsand91.3ofthe6-yearoldscorrectlymatchedthe“OldJoe”logo totheCamelcigarettebrand
[54] .Itisconcludedthatintensivepromotionofthiscigarette
brandresultedinthishighrecognitionrate [54]
.Inasimilarlydesignedstudy,recognitionof the“OldJoe”logowascomparedinadolescentsandadults:thechildrenwerebetterable
thanadults97vs.58tomatchthelogotothecigarettebrand [45]
.However,ofmuch greaterinterestisthepromotionaleffectofthe3-yearadvertisingcampaign:Camel’sshare
ofthechildren’scigarettemarketwasinitially0.5,risingto32.83yearslater [45]
. Similarly,interviewsconductedin5,040adolescentsand24,296adultsfromCalifornia
revealedthatperceptionofcigaretteadvertisingwashigheramongadolescentsthanadults [55]
.Whereasonly47ofadultsnamedMarlboroandCamelasthemostadvertisedbrands, theigurewas70amongadolescents.The12–13-yearoldsrecognisedCamelmostoften,
whereasthe16–17-yearoldsrecognisedMarlboromostoften [55]
.Adolescentnon-smokers fromthesamesettingwereinterviewedabouttobaccoindustryadvertisingmessages.Even
thoughtheyhadnoinvolvementinsmoking,84ofthesamplewasalsoabletoremember oneormoreadvertisingmessages
[56] .TheCameladvertdepictedinFig.
13.5 isdirected
at adolescents and adults who are already attuned and receptive to sexual innuendo. Nevertheless,thisadvertisingmessageoperatesatathoughtprovokinglevel.
Onerecentstudysoughtforanassociationbetweenthenumberofcigarettepromotional itemsCPIsownedandsmokingbehaviour.Thetwovariableswerestudiedin10–19-year-
oldstudents,usingmultivariateregressionanalysis.Smokersweredeinedasstudentswho hadpreviouslysmoked100cigarettesormoreintheirlifetime,whileotherstudentswere
classedasnever-smokersorexperimentalsmokers [57]
.Outofthe1,265students,406 ownedCPIs:211ownedone,82ownedtwo,57ownedthree,24ownedfour,23ownedive
and7-ownedsixCPIs.Thestudyalsoinvestigatedassociationswitheducationalleveland familysmokingbehaviour.Smokingprevalencewas11.2forstudentsnotowningaCPI,
41.5forthoseowningtwoCPIsOR=3.4;95CI:1.9–5.9and58.5OR=8.4;95 CI:5.0–14.2forthoseowningfourCPIs
[57] .Fromthis,itisevidentthatpromotional
Fig. 13.5
“Camel–a pleasurewhateverthe
position”:blendingsmoking withsexualinnuendo?
Cameladvert,issuedin Germanyin2000
itemssuppliedbythetobaccoindustryencouragesmokingbehaviour [57]
.Conversely, consistentlyimplementedtobaccocontrolprogrammesclearlyreducethesmokingbehaviour
ofchildren,ashasemergedfromanalysesinvariousUSstates [58]
. Furthermore,susceptibleadolescentstendtooverestimatethesocialbeneitsofsmok-
ingandunderestimateitsrisks [59]
,aphenomenonthatmayalsobetermedthe“invulner- abilitysyndrome”
[60] andisnotunknowninadults.Thesheerweightofadvertisingis
virtuallyboundtopre-programmemisconceptionsintoadolescents’thinkingsothatthey starttosmokeandthenareunabletofreethemselvesfromthehabit
[32] .Adolescentsare
notascapableasadultsateffectivelyresistingtheseattemptsofpersuasionsee Chap.12
, lifeskillstechniquesandconsequentlyaremorevulnerablethanmanyadultstoadvertis-
ingstrategiesandsalestactics [33]
.Adolescentsarealwayslookingforsomethingnovel andarealsowillingtotrynewexperiences
[61] .Adolescents’owninsecurityandtheir
tendencytolooktoagrouporaleaderigureprovokesanopportunisticresponsebecause theirrecognitionwithin,orsenseofbelongingto,thegroupmaydependonthis
[11,62] .
AgreatmanyilmsfromtheUSAandGermanyportrayactorssmoking.OneUSstudy scrutinisedeveryscenefrom25cinemabox-oficehitsperyearbetween1988and1997.
Thoseactorswhosmokeonscreenencouragethecurrenttobaccoepidemicamongyoung people.Cigaretteandcigarsmokinginthemoviescontributetothecharacterisationof
certaintypes:actresseswhosmokeoftenportraydisreputablewomenembroiledinsexual affairs,involvedinillegalactivitiesandordrivingautomobilesrecklessly;maleactors
whosmoketendtoportraytoughguyswhoarefrequentlyviolentandrelishdangerous situations
[63] .Onesurprisingindingwasthatthesenumeroussmokerscenesaccountfor
only2–3ofthefootage [63]
. AccordingtoanotheranalysisofUSilms,42ofactressesinstarringrolessmoked,
whereasonly24of18–44-year-oldUSwomenaresmokers.Moviesmokingpreva- lencewasjustashighinilmsforyoungpeopleasinilmsintendedforadultviewing.
Theactressesgenerallyusecigarettesinstressfulsituationsthattheywishtokeepunder control
[64] .Thismovieexposureencouragesyounggirlstoacceptandimitatethese
actressesasrolemodels.EvenDisneystudiocartoonilmsintendedsolelyforchildren’s viewingdepicttobaccoandalcoholscenesjustasfrequentlyasever,tojudgefroma
comparisonwithareportfrom1964.In1996and1997,allcartoonilmsfeaturedscenes oftobaccouse.Noilmofferedanyverbalmessagehighlightingtheharmfuleffectsof
smoking [63]
. InOctober1999,BritishTelecomBTapologisedforitserrorofjudgementinsupply-
ingpagersforaMarlborocigarettepromotionaimedatyoungpeople.BThassubsequently condemnedsuchcampaignsdesignedtopromotesalesoftobaccoproducts
[65] .Theback-
ground to BT’s decision was that the Marlboro Company, in its promotional campaign “FoundontheStreets”targetedatyoungpeople,wasofferingthemleisuregoodsifthey
purchased80-packsofcigaretteswithinaspeciiedperiod [65]
.Inreturnfortheirnamesand addresses,youngpeopleage18yearsatnightclubswereofferedafreepackofMarlboro
cigarettes,andlaterweresentglossybrochuresoncigarettelighters,Loruswristwatches, WhiteStuffleisurewear,SanyoCDplayersandNikoncameras
[65] .Marlboroinvited
participantsto“lookaroundtown”and“indthemselvessomethinguseful.”Theyoung peoplewerealsoencouragedtogettheirfriendstotelephonetheMarlborocustomerservice
department.Thecallershadtoconirmtheirageinwritingandattachproofofpurchase to the order form. In some cases, the companies supplying the products on offer only
discoveredviathepressthatthecampaignhadbeenlinkedwithMarlboro [65]
.Intermsof reprehensibleadvertisingcampaignsaimedatyoungpeople,itismypersonalopinionthat
thisrepresentsthetipoftheiceberg:aftersmoking1,600cigarettesthereisahighdegreeof certaintythatmanyparticipantsintheschemewouldhavebecomedependentsmokers.