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E Cards
Send a tobacco-free message.
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TOBACCO NEAR YOU
The tobacco industry's influence is everywhere, yet most of us have become so accustomed to its presence that we barely notice the subtle ways that tobacco infiltrates our daily lives and has become embedded in our culture. Tobacco's presence is in the movies, sports, stores, gas stations, newspapers, magazines, bars and on the Internet. Sadly, our lives are saturated with images of tobacco. Think about how this affects those trying to quit, or the impressionable eyes of those too young to fully understand the long-term consequences of tobacco use.
TOBACCO IN THE HANDS OF CHILDREN
MANIPULATIVE TOBACCO MARKETING
SMOKING IN MOVIES
SECOND HAND SMOKE EXPOSURE
YOUR ADDICTION
TOBACCO IN YOUR COMMUNITY
More than 80 percent of all smokers began their road to addiction before they turned 18 and were legally allowed to purchase tobacco products. Keeping tobacco out of the hands of minors is an important measure to help prevent them from embarking on a lifelong addiction.
What you can do:
- Don't give or buy tobacco for anyone under the age of 18. It's illegal, and you can be fined.
- For more than 100 years, it has been illegal in California to sell tobacco to anyone under the age of 18. If you see a tobacco retailer selling tobacco to a minor, call 1-800-5-ASK-4-ID and report it.
- Make sure your community has strong local policies to prevent children from obtaining tobacco, and demand enforcement. Support effective local tobacco retailer licensing.
RETAILERS
The next time you visit a gas station, convenience store or other type of retailer that sells cigarettes or tobacco products, take note of all the tobacco brand advertising you see including the display cases, posters, clocks and signage.
What you can do:
- Limit your, or your children's, exposure to tobacco by patronizing establishments that do not display mass quantities of in-your-face tobacco advertising.
- Voice your opinion to managers and owners, either in writing or in person. Suggest they limit the amount of tobacco advertising in and near their stores, and demand that they remove tobacco advertising within children's view, including away from the candy displays at children's eye level of three feet or below.
- If you see child-oriented products, such as holiday decorations or novelty items, positioned above or near cigarette display cases (a regular occurrence at many grocery stores), talk to the manager or owner and explain how this draws a child's attention right to the tobacco products. It's likely that the manager or owner has never even thought about it before.
- If you see candy cigarettes, bubble gum cigars or other tobacco look-a-like items being sold, explain to the manager or owner how these products may influence children's behavior and may send the message that smoking is fun.
MAGAZINE/NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING
Tobacco companies spend millions of dollars every year to advertise their products in newspapers and magazines. They use images of attractive young adults who look healthy, independent and adventurous.
What you can do:
- Limit your exposure to tobacco advertising by tearing out all the tobacco ads before you read your favorite magazines, or before your children read them. Ask your family doctors, dentists, and schools to do the same.
- Pay close attention to what your children, particularly teenagers, are exposed to when reading popular publications.
- If your favorite magazine or newspaper contains tobacco advertisements, write the publisher a letter to voice your opinion and express concern about the impact of advertising a product that is addictive and deadly.
- Many popular women's magazines discuss health issues faced by women today, such as breast, skin and ovarian cancers and obesity, often providing educational and preventative information. These publications seldom, if ever, discuss lung cancer, which kills more women than breast, ovarian and cervical cancer combined.
- Send letters to the editor and voice your concern. Ask them to protect their readers by refusing to promote tobacco ads in their publications.
TOBACCO INDUSTRY EVENT SPONSORSHIPS
Tobacco companies sponsor national and local events under their corporate or brand names.
Many tobacco sponsorships involve sports and activities popular with families such as rodeos, fairs, and racing, exposing children to heavy amounts of tobacco company images.
Sports sponsorships influence kids to smoke. The Cancer Research Campaign found that boys are twice as likely to become regular smokers if they are racing fans.
In addition, many of these events may be televised, giving the tobacco company television airtime.
The New England Journal of Medicine found that during the 1989 Marlboro Grand Prix, The Marlboro logo was seen or mentioned 5,933 times - almost 50% of the race's air-time.
What you can do:
- Be aware of what your children are exposed to when they attend sporting or community events, and avoid those that include tobacco companies.
- Steer clear of booths or tents where tobacco products are promoted.
- Be mindful of tobacco company sponsorships your children may see during a televised sporting event.
- When you notice a tobacco-sponsored event in your community, write your local newspaper to express your concern and raise public awareness.
- Get involved! www.BuckTobacco.org
SAMPLING
Currently, California state law allows the free distribution of tobacco products in "adult environments" - most people think bars, but this also includes tents or trailers at public venues. These adult environments are required to have security guards that prevent minors from admittance; however these spaces are commonly located at raceways, rodeos, and fairs - family friendly environments where children are present in large numbers. 40% of NASCAR fans have kids.
Additionally, bars are a key venue where tobacco products are distributed for free. College students fill out information cards which will later be used for the tobacco industry's direct-mail marketing efforts.
In recent years, tobacco companies have sponsored "bar nights" in order to promote their products, provide free samples and merchandise, and to obtain names and addresses for their direct-mail efforts. Between 2003 and 2006, US Smokeless Tobacco had 95 scheduled bar night promotions in Chico alone. Many of the young adults that take free tins were encouraged to try the product right away, whether they were actual users or not.
Tobacco companies have heavily targeted college-aged students with promotions and free products.
What you can do:
- Patronizing only those bars that do not hold tobacco-sponsored "bar nights."
- If you visit a bar with tobacco-industry promotional materials, samples or giveaways, tell the manager or owner why you disagree with such practices.
- Get involved!
The City of Chico passed a local ordinance that bans the free distribution of all tobacco products and coupons, including smokeless tobacco. Press Release
CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS
Tobacco companies often support specific communities and populations with financial contributions to gain access, influence and respectability.
What you can do:
- If you are aware of a tobacco company's charitable contribution in your community, write the organization accepting the contribution to inform them of your concern. Tell them to look beyond the money and consider the real reason the tobacco industry is courting them.
- Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to let them know how the tobacco industry is trying to buy credibility and a better reputation by infiltrating your community, while its products continue to cause life-threatening diseases and destroy lives.
Movies are one of the most powerful vehicles for glamorizing and promoting smoking, especially to youth. In a recent study, teenagers were divided into four groups according to their exposure to movie smoking; those teenagers in the group with the highest exposure were three times more likely to try smoking. Teens whose favorite stars smoke in movies were 16 times more likely to have positive attitudes toward smoking.
Tobacco's screen time in PG-13 movies and videos has increased 50 percent since the tobacco industry agreed to the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement that barred marketing tobacco to youth. In 2002 alone, smoking was found in 68.5 percent of all youth rated (G, PG, PG-13) movies.
Numerous studies have shown that teens exposed to on-screen smoking increases the likelihood that they will try smoking and has a direct impact on recruiting new smokers.
According to a survey by UC San Francisco in 2006 (Polansky and Glantz), 75 percent of movies include tobacco use, including 36 percent of G- and PG-rated movies.
Research conducted in 1999 by University of California, Irvine (Pechmann and Shih, 1999) suggests that showing an anti-smoking advertisement to youth before a film containing smoking could effectively reposition the smoking from forbidden (a positive) to tainted (a negative), counteracting the influence of smoking in movies.
Recently, 41 states? attorneys general called on the studios to place anti-smoking ads on any DVD or movie that includes smoking.
NEW: California?s Anti-Smoking Ads to Appear on Youth-rated Movie DVDs
Through an unprecedented agreement between the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS), the Department of Public Health
and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), six major Hollywood studios (Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. Studios, Walt Disney Studios, Twentieth Century Fox, and Paramount Pictures) have committed to placing the state?s anti-smoking advertisements on youth-rated movies released in DVD format.
The ads will run before all movies rated G, PG, or PG-13 that contain scenes of smoking or smoking imagery and are distributed by the participating motion picture studios through December 2009.
To view all of California?s anti-tobacco ads, click here.
The studios will use ads developed by the California Tobacco Control Program?s Media Campaign. Allowing use of anti-smoking ads for this purpose enables California to extend the reach of its proven anti-tobacco messages and promotes the benefits of living tobacco-free to millions of people. There will be no cost to California taxpayers to use the existing ads on the movie DVDs.
What you can do:
- You have the control to limit your exposure, or a child's exposure, to smoking in movies and there are excellent resources to help. For a list of smoking content in current films, visit www.scenesmoking.org.
Smoking in public is not just a nuisance, it's a health danger due to exposure to secondhand smoke. Nearly 53,000 innocent nonsmokers die every year from exposure to secondhand smoke in the U.S., and many more suffer unnecessarily. Children are especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke and many develop asthma, bronchitis, ear infections, and other illnesses.
What you can do:
- If you're a smoker, don't smoke around others, especially children. Make sure the policies of pre-schools, schools, and other places where your children spend time provide complete protection from secondhand smoke.
- If someone in a crowded public place is smoking, move away from the smoke, or if appropriate, politely ask him or her to put it out or smoke somewhere else.
- If someone you know smokes, send them one of this site's e-cards to deliver a powerful secondhand smoke message.
- Advocate for stronger no smoking laws in your community, so you and your family can work and play anywhere without breathing someone else's toxic smoke.
It often takes a smoker or chew user several attempts before quitting successfully as tobacco is highly addictive. While the road to becoming a nonsmoker is challenging, there are rewards. Many of the negative health effects caused by smoking can be reduced within days of quitting.
What you can do:
- Research shows that developing a plan before attempting to quit dramatically increases your chance of success. The California Smokers' Helpline is available to provide free and confidential counseling and will customize a plan to help you quit. Call them today at 1-800-NO-BUTTS or chew users can call 1-800-844-CHEW.
Many communities in California and throughout the United States have reduced tobacco use and limitrd tobacco marketing and sales. End tobacco use in your community.
What you can do:
- Contact your local health department to see how you can get involved in your community to protect yourself and your loved ones.
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