Marketing Tobacco Products to Teens
Cigarette Ads and Imagery Targeted to Young People
Cigarette smoking causes roughly one in five deaths in the United States. Despite progress in reducing teen smoking, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 3,200 individuals under age 18 smoke their first cigarette each day. Exposure to advertisements for tobacco products plays a large role in teenagers’ tobacco use. The 2012 Surgeon General’s Report Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults stated, “There is strong, consistent evidence that advertising and promotion influence the factors that lead directly to tobacco use by adolescents.” ■ Regulation of Cigarette and Tobacco Advertisements The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1969…
