Over the last few generations, the cultural image associated with smoking has dramatically changed. In comparison with the youth of our grandparents, the novelty, rebellion, and the social normality linked to smoking has significantly depleted. The past decade has altered that perception further and changed the idolization of smoking into a more stigmatized and negative view. Such attitude change has been a process and can be attributed to the utilization of many anti-smoking programs. The first large-scale national anti-smoking program was implemented as a part of the Fairness Doctrine, from 1967 to 1970 (Farrelly et al. 2005). During this time, television networks were required to maintain a balance between anti-smoking and pro-smoking advertisements. Since then, many other campaigns have taken on the challenge of combatting anti-smoking with the tobacco industry’s promotion. The “truth” campaign, specifically, imposed an early and effective model for anti-smoking programs to follow, therefore making it highly successful.
The “truth” campaign is one of the most recent large-scale national anti-smoking programs used to change attitudes and beliefs towards smoking. In 1998, the Florida Department of Health launched this tobacco prevention program that featured a mass media campaign (Farrelly et al. 2005). The primary strategy was to employ advertisements with anti-tobacco messages in hopes of raising awareness and changing social norms. The campaign countered industry
Tobacco companies advertise in magazines, promote their products in convenience stores and market their brands through websites and social networks. Many of these tobacco industries get publicity and attract more young customers when using the newly in media to promote their products. Many of these tobacco companies don’t understand that tobacco advertising is a huge public health issue that increases smoking. Tobacco company advertising and promoting is the start of the use of tobacco among teenagers. Now, these media and magazine advertisements about cigars have caused teenagers to be exposed to cigarette advertising. Not only that but also these teenagers find ads appealing and also increase their desire to smoke. Cigarette companies spent about $8.37 billion on advertising and promotional expenses in the United States in 2011.
This paper will examine the history of the tobacco industry and its advertising campaigns from the 1920s to the present. Some of the issues discussed in this paper will include: What forms of mass communication has tobacco companies used to persuade the public, how changes in technology have influenced the way tobacco companies communicate with target audiences, and how the United States government restrictions affect the current efforts of tobacco companies advertising strategies. Other topics that this paper will expound upon are, the ethics of the tobacco industry’s advertising approaches, how tobacco companies responded to health warnings from the government, and what
One of my first memories in the United States was taking a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) class. I was in sixth grade and a top student, as talking about drugs and alcohol and the way they affect us was fascinating to me. This is why, the following year, I volunteered to become a peer educator in Teens Against Tobacco Use (T.A.T.U). For a couple of years, I gave presentations to young students which included facts, demonstrations, and games, to spread the knowledge that tobacco is harmful and that staying away from smoking prolongs life expectancy and increases the quality of life. It should come as no surprise, then, that I consider myself a big proponent of staying tobacco-free and encouraging others to quit smoking as a great way to promote health. I remember watching my mom and sister as they took part in their nightly ritual of smoking a few cigarettes to unwind. “Did you know that a main component of cigarettes is used as rocket fuel?” I would ask them, as I opened the window and they stared back at me blankly. “We know, we know” was the answer every time. I knew that convincing them to quit was no easy task, but I was committed. Day after day, I proudly stated a new fact about the evils of smoking. Finally one day, they quit. At first, they attributed it to the cost. Since we had just immigrated to the United States, the cost of cigarettes was simply not something they could afford. I didn’t believe it. I proudly
Pharmacists are health care professionals that work in their communities to raise the quality of life for the patients they serve. Pharmacists have been working at Consumer Values Stores (CVS) since their first doors opened in 1963. The company has since largely expanded and has become the second largest retail-pharmacy chain in the United States with more than 8,000 store nationwide. CVS is a billion dollar company and has since changed its corporate name to CVS Health along with becoming a leader in corporate social responsibility. The chain is going to great lengths to improve public health all over the country by doing such things as ceasing the sale of cigarettes in its stores and starting a nation-wide smoking cessation program called “We’re Tobacco Free”. CVS has also partnered with MinuteClinic to operate inside some of its stores.
Anti-tobacco campaigns have utilized public service announcements to campaign the detrimental effects of tobacco consumption as well as raise awareness regarding cessation resources. In 2000, California held a media campaign that accounted for a 2-3% reduction in the sales of cigarette packs. Despite the seemingly low effect of media campaigning, it has been proven that each dollar invested in the anti-tobacco advertising results into a per capita decrease of 7.7 packs of cigarettes (Atkin,
In fact, the tobacco industry has suffered ever since antismoking advertising has begun (Johnston, p. 107). According to statistics, 4 in every 10 Americans who are in 12th grade have tried cigarettes, and 1 in 10 consider themselves current smokers. As well as, 1 in 5, 8th graders have tried cigarettes, and 1 in 16 consider themselves current smokers (Johnston, p. 107). Now that society is aware of the harms of tobacco, it is important to decrease such rates of smoking amongst youth. Not only are there commercials about the risks of cigarette smoking, but also there are commercials that promote living above the influence of all drugs, including alcohol and marijuana. Lastly, as research continues to improve, and new drugs arise it is important to keep youth educated on the risks of using such drugs. It is important to keep our youth safe from the dangers of
However, in the early 2000s, scientists and health specialists all over America began publishing research journals and propaganda stating how detrimental smoking was to one's life. Coincidentally, smoking rates and death also began to go down simultaneously. This propaganda paired with scientific facts provided by various laboratories, nicknamed anti-smoking propaganda, began to immediately change the atmosphere of smokers within America. Therefore, one must wonder how the changing trend in smoking-related propaganda and the newly introduced anti-smoking propaganda has affected its American populous. This research will analyze that exactly, and come to a conclusion on how the changes in smoking-related propaganda have affected the American populous.
Cigarettes have often been viewed as a horrible product that can cause many health problems such as cancer, emphysema, and heart disease. The act of advertising smoking in a positive manner on TV is illegal in today’s society. We have learned the true effect of how smoking affects your body, yet with all these known facts about smoking many people still choose to smoke. Smoking has not always been portrayed as a negative act. Around the early to late 1950’s there were many ads that showed only positive things about smoking. The two ads shown below portray the message that if you smoke you will be happy and with so many people smoking during the 1950’s it was hard not to see how smoking wouldn’t cause positive emotions; furthermore, with the convenient packaging it was easy to have a smoke almost everywhere you went. These two cigarette companies produced ads that proclaimed to have cigarettes that were good for your throat. With people not knowing the harsh effects of smoking as we do now, they
With realistic and factual information on a cigarette smoking, that is scary, a person’s attitude and beliefs can change about their unhealthy behavior. Goal wise, the target audience will in turn, stop their unhealthy behavior of cigarette smoking. Methods of communications, in order to deliver the scare tactics, are through advertisements in places where the target audience visits frequently. Ideas of delivery for communications is social media and television (commercials). The public health theory of reasoned action was chosen to incorporate my theory (scare tactics with educational information, helps to deter unhealthy controllable behaviors), other than other alternative models of public health, is because I have high agreeance with the phrase, “It's sad that bad things have to happen in order for us to stop and look around” (Duke, 2014). Strategically with educational scare tactics that relate to women ages 18-24 specifically (reproductive issues), their attitudes and beliefs about smoking will change as the reasoned theory chart below
According to ScienceDaily, Anti-Smoking campaigns aimed towards kids are most effective when convincing youth that their friends are listening to the ads (1) . While outdated and ineffective ads focus on telling individuals to avoid tobacco or die horribly, Hye-Jin Paek, assistant professor at UGA College of Journalism and Mass Communication, says new advertisements across the world focus on changing the social norms surrounded by smoking. Instead of an ad saying “every cigarette you smoke takes nine minutes off your life,” these billboards could read “over 66% of Kentucky's high school students are smoke free.” This is a great example of a shifting focus from health risks associated with tobacco to how a young adult's peers feel about tobacco. A social standard is set for high school students when ads clearly state that the vast majority of teens aren't smoking.
One of my favorite pastimes is smoking. Smoking, for me is a great stress reliever; it helps take the edge off. It can’t be denied however, smoking is still bad for you. The damage it does to the body is well documented and researched. There have been two warring sides of the media, the pro- tobacco side and the anti- tobacco side. ‘Big Tobacco’ as well as anti-smoking activist bombard the public with images to promote their agenda. This essay I will be comparing and contrasting ads from both pro and anti-smoking industries. Although, the ads have different goals the way they go about achieving them are similar. The pro smoking ad makes smoking seem more glamorous than it really is. The anti-smoking commercial makes smoking seem sinister and ominous.
Programs and interventions geared toward health behavior have changed vastly over the last 40 years. Starting in the 1970's and gradually into the 80's, additional research was gathered on behavior attributed to health risks such as smoking, drinking, and unhealthy diets. Information and education campaigns were on small scale individual level mainly coming from physicians informing their patients. The push toward quitting smoking was forthright at the start then citizens became less interested in in maintaining a healthy lifestyle as they viewed the task very difficult. As stated in the show "Mad Men" everyone else's cigarettes cause cancer our tobacco is "toasted". In the 1980's the smoking prevention campaigns gained traction and grew towards
While the use of tobacco products was once socially acceptable, it is now the leading cause of preventable death and disability in the United States. As a result, The Task Force on Community Preventive Services recommended the utilization of specific strategies for smoking cessation, elimination of secondhand smoke, and the prevention of tobacco use altogether (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). One such strategy was the mass-reach health communication approach. This strategy utilized vehicles such as popular television as a way to transmit public health information to large numbers of people. In addition, the mass-reach approach was instrumental in broadening the awareness
Cohen, E. L., Shumate, M. D., & Gold, A. (2007). Original: anti-smoking media campaign messages: theory and practice. Health Communication, 22(2), 91-102.
Smoking tobacco has been a part of American culture since its very conception. Throughout our history, tobacco has been advertised as a simple pleasure for those who seek it out. Whether you are sitting on the porch with a couple of friends or in a dimly lit jazz club, tobacco ads give off a false sense of comfort, power, and success. Until around the mid-1900’s, smoking cigarettes was not considered unhealthy. It was only later that the public realize the detrimental health consequences that came with smoking tobacco. To spread this information, specific advertisements were aired to help inform the public of the dangers of smoking. While these ads have changed over time, the same message and warning still remains evident.