PHILIP MORRIS TO PULL TOBACCO ADS FROM MAGAZINES
PHILIP MORRIS TO PULL TOBACCO ADS FROM MAGAZINES
New York City, June 2, 2000. In the next few days, Philip Morris tobacco company will announce that it is voluntarily withdrawing all tobacco advertising from sports magazines and magazines with youth readership greater than or equal to fifteen percent, according to the national smokefree advocacy group SmokeFree Educational Services. Such magazines will include Sports Illustrated, TV Guide, Rolling Stone, Spin, and Vibe.
According to SmokeFree Educational Services' president Joseph W. Cherner, this information comes from "an internal Philip Morris source who needs to remain nameless." Smokefree advocates have sent more than 1,000 letters to Sports Illustrated and TV Guide in the last few months demanding that tobacco ads be rejected. (Letters can be read at www.smokefree.org/SI).
Philip Morris' decision comes as pressure mounts to stop targeting kids. Health groups and smokefree advocates have accused Philip Morris of lying when it claims that it doesn't want children to smoke by citing dozens of tobacco ads in leading magazines with high youth readership. Philip Morris's three largest advertising expenditures are in magazines with the three largest numbers of youth readers: Sports Illustrated, TV Guide, and People.
Magazines with Highest Youth Readership
| Magazine | Youth Readership | Total Readership | %Youth Readership |
| Sports Illustrated | 7,254,000 | 32,164,000 | 22.50% |
| TV Guide | 7,102,000 | 45,525,641 | 15.60% |
| People | 5,634,000 | 43,766,000 | 12.90% |
| Rolling Stone | 3,318,000 | 11,779,000 | 28.20% |
| Inside Sports | 3,116,000 | 9,009,000 | 34.50% |
| Hot Rod | 2,937,000 | 9,431,000 | 31.10% |
| Glamour | 2,882,000 | 14,547,000 | 19.80% |
| Vibe | 2,864,000 | 6,782,000 | 42.20% |
| Sport | 2,605,000 | 7,907,000 | 32.90% |
| Motor Trend | 2,131,000 | 8,454,000 | 25.20% |
| Field and Stream | 2,016,000 | 13,807,000 | 14.60% |
| Outdoor Life | 1,867,000 | 9,185,000 | 20.30% |
| Mademoiselle | 1,540,000 | 6,509,000 | 23.60% |
| Spin | 1,316,000 | 4,109,000 | 32.00% |
| The Sporting News | 1,190,000 | 3,965,000 | 30.00% |
Source: Simmons Market Research Bureau 1999
Joseph W. Cherner, President
SmokeFree Educational Services, Inc.
http://www.smokefree.org
***********************
Go To: Tobacco BBS HomePage / Resources Page / Health Page / Documents Page / Culture Page / Activism Page
***********************
END OF DOCUMENT