Tobacco-Free Kids Advertising

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According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the major tobacco companies now spend $9.6 billion per year more than $26 million every day to promote their products, and any of their marketing efforts directly reach kids. According to Tobacco Free Kids (TFK) (2012), tobacco industry documents, research on the effect of the cigarette companies’ marketing efforts on kids, and the opinions of advertising experts combine to reveal the intent and the success of the industry’s efforts to attract new smokers from the ranks of children. According to Philip Morris (2006), “Today’s teenager is tomorrow’s potential regular customer, and the overwhelming majority of smokers first begin to smoke while still in their teens.” According to U.S. Tobacco (2006), “Cherry Skoal is for somebody who likes the …show more content…
According to Judge Kessler (2012), “the evidence is clear and convincing and beyond any reasonable doubt that defendants have marketed to young people twenty-one and under while consistently, publicly, and falsely denying they do so.” The tobacco companies claim that they have stopped intentionally marketing to kids and targeting youth in their research or promotional efforts, but they continue to advertise tobacco in ways that reach vulnerable underage populations (TFK, 2012). For example, tobacco companies continue to advertise heavily at retail outlets near schools and playgrounds, with large ads and signs clearly visible from outside the stores. In 2012, tobacco companies spent nearly ninety-six percent ($9.2 Billion) of their total advertising and promotion expenditures on strategies that facilitated retail sales, such as price discounts, point-of-sale advertising, coupons, and payments to ensure prime retail space (TFK,