Email
Password
(Forgot Password?)
Without the signature in-your-face tactics of its TV commercials, the anti-smoking Truth campaign teamed up with the Vans Warped Tour at the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater on Wednesday.
Instead, campaign members used games such as Truth Says, a variation on Simon Says, to try to educate teens on the dangers of smoking.
It worked. Of the many booths nearby, the Truth truck attracted the largest number of people, and at some points, garnered more attention than some of the bands.
According to the American Legacy Foundation, 22 percent of Virginia youths between ages 12 and 17 smoke cigarettes.
"We don't try to shove our message down people's throats," said Kimberly Broderick, 25, a crew member from Los Angeles.
Jump to full article »
The ad campaign, called Do You Have What It Takes? asks real-life job-seekers whether they would be willing to participate in the types of decisions and situations that tobacco industry executives have made or encountered. The new campaign rolls out at the end of May with television, print, cinema and online advertisements, along with a new Web site and social-networking elements.
Despite the national recession, the tobacco industry remains a very profitable and stable industry. However, even with economic hardship, recent research studies find -- if given the choice -- many Americans would choose not to work in the industry and already have a negative opinion of the tobacco industry
Objectives. This study examines how the American Legacy Foundation's "truth" campaign and Philip Morris's "Think. Don't Smoke" campaign have influenced youths' attitudes, beliefs, and intentions toward tobacco.
Methods. We analyzed 2 telephone surveys of 12- to 17-year-olds with multivariate logistic regressions: a baseline survey conducted before the launch of "truth" and a second survey 10 months into the "truth" campaign.
Results. Exposure to "truth" countermarketing advertisements was consistently associated with an increase in anti-tobacco attitudes and beliefs, whereas exposure to Philip Morris advertisements generally was not. In addition, those exposed to Philip Morris advertisements were more likely to be open to the idea of smoking.
Conclusions. Whereas exposure to the "truth" campaign positively changed youths' attitudes toward tobacco, the Philip Morris campaign had a counterproductive influence.
The truth(R) youth anti-smoking campaign has the power to save hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars in smoking-related health care costs and productivity losses, according to the Citizens' Commission to Protect the Truth, a group composed of every former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare and Health and Human Services, with the exception of Michael Leavitt; every former U.S. Surgeon General; and every former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine indicated that the medical care costs averted by the truth(R) campaign - due to prevention of smoking - were far greater than the costs of the campaign itself and found that for every dollar invested in truth(R), it is estimated that society saved over $6.80. The study focused on the period of 2000-2002. During this period of time, the truth(R) campaign has been credited with reducing the number of children and teen smokers by 300,000.
We believe that if the truth(R) campaign continues for another five years (2009-2015) with similar effectiveness, there will be up to 500,000 fewer youth smokers with savings of up to $9.0 billion in future medical costs.
A growing body of research continues to demonstrate the effectiveness of truth®, the nation’s largest youth smoking prevention campaign not directed by the tobacco industry. A recent study published in the online edition of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) found that the truth® campaign increased antismoking beliefs among teens, decreased their intent to smoke, and lowered the rates of teens starting to smoke. In contrast, Philip Morris’ “Think. Don’t Smoke” campaign had virtually no effect on changing teens’ attitudes about tobacco or smoking initiation. In fact, it actually increased teens’ intentions to smoke soon.
“This is the fourth study to be released in the last few weeks that validates the truth® campaign’s efforts,” said Dr. Cheryl G. Healton, President and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation®. . . .
Data from the study came from a three-year, in-school survey of approximately 16,000 youth in grades 6 through 12. Research was conducted by a team from RTI International, Columbia University and Legacy.
Last week, three other new research papers found that truth® remains highly effective as well as cost-efficient in its mission to prevent the youth of America from beginning to smoke:
Ø The first paper found that truth® was directly responsible for keeping 450,000 teens from starting to smoke during its first four years
Ø A second study led by Johns Hopkins found that the campaign not only paid for itself in its first two years, but also saved between $1.9 and $5.4 billion in medical care costs to society. [The two papers will be published in the April issue of AJPM but are available on the Journal’s Web site, http://www.ajpm-online.net/.]
Ø A third paper appearing in the February issue of Ethnicity and Health showed that youth exposed to the truth® campaign were more likely to have anti-tobacco beliefs and attitudes.
February 2009 marks the ninth anniversary of the truth® campaign
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the American Legacy Foundation have estimated that truth�, the nations' largest youth smoking prevention campaign, saved $1.9 billion or more in health care costs associated with tobacco use. The results were published February 12 online by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
In 2005, the American Journal of Public Health published an article that indicated that 22% of the overall decline in youth smoking that occurred between 1999 and 2002 was directly attributable to the truth� social marketing campaign launched in 2000. A remaining key question about the truth campaign is whether the economic investment in the program can be justified by the public health outcomes; that question is examined here. . . .
Results
During 2000–2002, expenditures totaled just over $324 million to develop, deliver, evaluate, and litigate the truth campaign. The base-case cost–utility analysis result indicates that the campaign was cost saving; it is estimated that the campaign recouped its costs and that just under $1.9 billion in medical costs was averted for society. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the basic determination of cost effectiveness for this campaign is robust to substantial variation in input parameters.
Conclusions
This study suggests that the truth campaign not only markedly improved the public's health but did so in an economically efficient manner.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the American Legacy Foundation have estimated that truth�, the nations’ largest youth smoking prevention campaign, saved $1.9 billion or more in health care costs associated with tobacco use. The results were published February 12 online by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
“The cost effectiveness of the truth� campaign has major tobacco policy implications,” said lead author, David Holtgrave, PhD, director of the Bloomberg School’s Institute for Global Tobacco Control and Chair of the Department of Health, Behavior and Society. “The campaign was previously shown to lead to far fewer youth initiating smoking. In the current paper, we now estimate that the campaign will avert future health care costs of roughly $1.9 billion and perhaps more, because youth who avoid smoking will avoid the negative health consequences of smoking. Even under our most pessimistic analysis, the cost per quality adjusted life year saved by the campaign is substantially below the cost of other major prevention interventions and therefore its expansion would be an excellent public health investment.” . . .
“Cost-Utility Analysis of the National truth� Campaign to Prevent Youth Smoking” was written by David R. Holtgrave, Katherine A. Wunderink, Donna M. Vallone and Cheryl G. Healton.
The research was supported by the American Legacy Foundation.
Riding single is no longer boring at Brighton. The TRUTH campaign is using chairlifts as a marketing tool, with funny cartoon strips featuring talking cigarettes and captions that educate about tobacco's ill effects and keep you entertained on your ride up. They're scattered on chair safety bars. "Skiers spend about ten minutes on the lift between runs," said David Neville, marketing coordinator for The TRUTH. "We are using this downtime to educate this high risk audience about the dangers of tobacco."
In addition, Monday nights are The TRUTH night all season long. Skiers may participate in half-priced night skiing on Mondays by printing a coupon. By taking part in an anti-tobacco activity offered at The TRUTH booth, youth may enter to win prizes like an anti-tobacco snowboard or iPod.
The TRUTH commissioned internationally-known graffiti artists to paint Brighton's terrain park rails and wall ride with the theme "See through the smoke, don't be manipulated." . . .
Anti-smokers are lying Nazis.
Three new research papers find that truth®, the national youth smoking prevention campaign from the American Legacy Foundation®, remains highly effective as well as cost-efficient in its mission to prevent the youth of America from beginning to smoke. Two of the papers are published online today from the April issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM), while the third study appears in the February issue of Ethnicity and Health.
The first paper appearing online today finds that truth® was directly responsible for keeping 450,000 teens from starting to smoke during its first four years, while the second study found that the campaign not only paid for itself in its first two years, but also saved between $1.9 and $5.4 billion in medical care costs to society. The two papers will be published in the April issue of AJPM but are available today on the Journal's Web site, www.ajpm-online.net. A third paper appearing in the February issue of Ethnicity and Health shows that youth exposed to the truth® campaign were more likely to have anti-tobacco beliefs and attitudes.
"These studies further validate the evolving approach to youth public education we have applied since the campaign first launched in 2000," said Dr. Cheryl G. Healton, President and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the American Legacy Foundation have estimated that truth®, the nations’ largest youth smoking prevention campaign, saved $1.9 billion or more in health care costs associated with tobacco use.
“The cost effectiveness of the truth® campaign has major tobacco policy implications,” said lead author, David Holtgrave, PhD, director of the Bloomberg School’s Institute for Global Tobacco Control and Chair of the Department of Health, Behavior and Society. “The campaign was previously shown to lead to far fewer youth initiating smoking. In the current paper, we now estimate that the campaign will avert future health care costs of roughly $1.9 billion and perhaps more, because youth who avoid smoking will avoid the negative health consequences of smoking. Even under our most pessimistic analysis, the cost per quality adjusted life year saved by the campaign is substantially below the cost of other major prevention interventions and therefore its expansion would be an excellent public health investment.”
Several scientific studies released today provide powerful new evidence that tobacco marketing causes kids to smoke, while anti-tobacco advertising campaigns prevent smoking. These studies send a loud and clear message to the nation's policy makers: We need less tobacco marketing and more tobacco prevention.
It is critical that Congress this year pass legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products and marketing, which among other things would crack down on tobacco marketing that appeals to kids. It is also imperative that Congress and the states increase funding for programs proven to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit.
CDC Study: Youth Smokers Overwhelmingly Prefer Three Most Heavily Advertised Brands . . .
Three Studies Finds truth(R) Prevention Campaign Reduces Smoking and Saves Money
All of us in my generation grew up knowing that smoking was bad for us. I watched my mother and grandmother devour hundreds, maybe thousands, of peppermints for years, trying to fend off a nicotine fit with a sweet tooth. My father still "quits" smoking about every six weeks.
When I was 9, I went to the hospital every day after school to visit my ailing grandfather, who was recovering from the removal of one lung and the effects of decades of smoking.
I went to D.A.R.E. I watched Rachel Leigh Cook smash a frying pan around in those commercials meant to encourage me to stay away from drugs. I even once put a carton of my dad's cigarettes through the wash in hopes of curbing his smoking habit. No luck.
I know it's bad, dangerous, foolish. But when someone offered me my first cigarette at age 14, everything I knew about smoking meant zip. Zero. Nada. Of course I was going to try it. . . .
All this melodrama leads me to just ignore the message altogether. Why don't they just tell us straight how bad smoking is for us, instead of trying to scare us with these mini-horror scenarios?
The ads are patronizing, and they don't seem very effective. A study this year by Assistant Professor Hye-Jin Paek at the University of Georgia and Professor Albert Gunther at the University of Wisconsin concluded that antismoking ads inspire curiosity about cigarettes, and that children exposed to them are more likely to start smoking. . . .
I don't smoke a lot, and I don't smoke every day. I don't think I have a habit. But many my age do. Cigarette smoking does cause cancer. It also leads to emphysema and heart disease. The evidence is overwhelming.
I watched these affects firsthand. . . .
We know the consequences and we still smoke. Ten years of multimillion-dollar ad campaigns haven't changed that.
Maybe it's time for a better strategy. In the meantime, it couldn't hurt to start funneling some of that ad money where it might do some real good, like providing health insurance for all of us who are going to get cancer.
Desmond Williams, a Washington, DC-based DJ and producer, created an electronica-infused, three-minute riff to be named the winner of an online DJ contest hosted by truth®. The youth smoking prevention campaign asked fans to create their own remixes of a song from the latest truth® advertising campaign, the Sunny Side of truth®. Mr. Williams' version was voted the best of all the entries submitted on imeem.com, a popular music community. Mr. Williams won a $600 DJ software package, and his track will be promoted by truth® on popular music sites like imeem, iTunes, and Pandora, among others. The winning track can be heard at http://www.imeem.com/thetruth/.
Williams, a professional engineer, producer, and musician for more than 20 years, re-mixed his own version of the song from the campaign television ad "Typo." The ad, which ran earlier this year, featured animated typewriters, documents and liquid paper filling the air, accompanied by teens who sing about how statistics on the millions of deaths from tobacco "must have been a typo." David Yazbek, a Tony-nominated lyricist and composer, wrote the original "Typo" music featured in the tongue-in-cheek campaign.
Mr. Williams joins the nine innovative DJs and bands who previously re-mixed songs from the "Sunny Side of truth®" advertising campaign in styles from house and hip-hop to electro. As part of the truth® "ReMix" project launched in July 2008, DJs and bands such as Cobra Starship, Diplo, Kaskade, Mix Master Mike and more were asked to put their own twist on songs from the campaign. The ReMix music tracks were then packaged as a special CD compilation and available for download online as part of a comprehensive effort to reach more of the teen audience through technology and alternative media & entertainment.
Every summer, a group of twentysomethings travel to events in the US attended by teens. Crew members tell personal stories about the effects of tobacco use and provide information to teens about the health and social issues of smoking.
Login Required