UK: Tobacco Ads Target Youth

Source from:  Rutland Herald 12/25/2015

Have you noticed the amount of tobacco advertising at local stores and wonder how this affects our youth?

Tobacco companies have enlisted retailer markets as their most important partners in marketing tobacco products, thereby enticing kids to use tobacco and harming the nation's health, according to reports by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Counter Tobacco and the American Heart Association. Tobacco companies spend upwards of $10 billion a year to saturate convenience stores, gas stations and other retail outlets with colorful, appealing advertising that is attractive to young people. These companies want to ensure that tobacco products, including e-cigs, are advertised to lure kids and other shoppers.

With tobacco ads prohibited on television, radio and billboards, convenience stores remain one place where kids are regularly exposed to tobacco advertising and promotions. More than two-thirds of teenagers visit a convenience store at least once a week. Cigarette marketing is more common in stores where adolescents shop frequently; tobacco advertisements and product displays are often placed at kids' eye level or near candy; and point-of-sale marketing - especially price discounting - has been proven to increase youth smoking.

Next time you stop at a local convenience store, check out the amount and type of advertising that cover the walls, windows, and display cases throughout the store. Ask yourself: Who exactly are the advertisements meant for? Ask your youth: What do you think about the advertising that you see? You might be surprised by their answer. Enditem