Tobacco.org

• Legacy, Philip Morris Spar 

In an ironic twist, the American Legacy Foundation has called on tobacco companies to pull their parent-targeted anti-smoking ads, at least in part because an upcoming study in the December issue of the American Journal of Public Health suggests that cigarette manufacturers' spots actually increase the likelihood that teens will smoke in the future.

Philip Morris USA, however, the only tobacco company currently on air with youth-focused anti-smoking ads, refutes the study's findings and contends that its initiative for encouraging parents to discuss smoking with the children (themed "Talk. They'll listen") is attaining its goals.

"The tobacco industry ads are a trick on young people," said Legacy CEO Cheryl Healton, in a statement. "By creating these ads, the industry claims to be trying to help our nation's youth and acts as if these ads are truly aimed at discouraging smoking. However, this study, along with previous research proves that this is simply not the case. The tobacco industry is in the business of selling cigarettes. What does help discourage youth smoking rates are ads and messages provided by sources that are independent of the tobacco industry."

Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell said he would meet with other AGs to determine if tobacco-industry prevention ads violate the prohibition on youth marketing. . . . "[Our] goal in this area is to have an effective youth smoking prevention program and to that end we believe in collaborative dialogue with the public health community to help identify any potential improvements to our youth smoking prevention communications. The campaign is directed at parents because that is what experts tell us is the most effective way."

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[Our] goal in this area is to have an effective youth smoking prevention program and to that end we believe in collaborative dialogue with the public health community to help identify any potential improvements to our youth smoking prevention communications. The campaign is directed at parents because that is what experts tell us is the most effective way.
Dave Sutton, a Philip Morris representative, who didn't mention what Philip Morris does when experts say the most effective way is to stop their youth smoking prevention communications.