Youth Group Eyes Tobacco Industry

Source from:  Posted By HEATHER TRAVIS chathamdailynews.ca 12/27/2007

A large pair of eyes have been watching over St. Clair Street this month and will soon be replaced by a foot with a toe tag. These eerie body images are used in Crew 129 Youth Action Alliance's billboard campaign against the tobacco industry. The billboard with the seemingly Big Brother eyes asks "Who's Watching You?" pointing to the tobacco industry's constant surveillance of the public's habits and tastes, to adapt to the needs of tobacco consumers and to attract new ones. The billboard is left as a cliff-hanger to be continued and posters with the answer - the tobacco industry - will be put up this week. Youth Action Alliance coordinator Karen Loney said the idea for the billboards came from the marketing strategies of the tobacco industry. "People are always watching us to see what we want and how to make it attractive to us," said Loney. These billboards are also located in high traffic areas on Grand Avenue in Chatham and Main Street in Tilbury. Posters and lawn signs have been distributed in schools and throughout the community. Crew 129 is a group of Chatham-Kent teenagers advocating against and raising awareness about the tobacco industry, in accordance with the Smoke Free Ontario strategy and the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit. "It's (Crew 129's) hope that youth and the whole community will become aware that there is an industry that profits from a product that is harmful." Starting Monday, Dec. 31, a different anti-smoking billboard campaign showing the darker side of the tobacco industry will begin. Billboards on Queen Street, Bloomfield and St. Clair Street will display a victim's foot with a toe tag attached to it reading Cause of Death: The Tobacco Industry. "We just wanted to remind people how harmful the tobacco industry is," Loney said. On Thursday, Jan. 3, members of Crew 129 will be handing out toe tags with the top 10 ways the tobacco industry targets its consumers by promoting smoking in movies and event sponsorship, among others. "They've made it very normal to smoke," she said. Cogeco Cable is also running a commercial featuring the billboards and Crew 129's anti-smoking message over the next several weeks. "We are not targeting the smoker because it is the tobacco industry," said Loney. "The tobacco industry has really got people addicted to the products." Enditem