Discussion

After analyzing the survey and conducting the focus groups, it is apparent what the “real reasons” stated in the hypothesis actually are. The “real reason” children smoke is because they are heavily influenced by their family and friends. The results of the survey cannot determine why this is true, but the research has proven that students with a mother, father, older sibling or best friend who smokes, will most likely smoke also.

How the kids feel

This evidence directly correlates with the effectiveness of TargetMarket advertisements. As all three of the focus groups pointed out, they don’t care if Big Tobacco is targeting them or not. Each group discussed their opinions and agreed that TargetMarket ads would be effective only if a child would never smoke in the first place. But the children who really need to be targeted with anti-smoking efforts will not be affected by TM ads.

“These ads would be okay for a kid that had no chance of smoking anyway…for someone that was never around people that smoked,” said a sixth grader. “But what if you live in a house where everyone around you smokes? Of course you’ll eventually smoke too. Seeing a TargetMarket ad on TV will have absolutely no affect on you.”

Negative reactions

In addition, all 18 participants disliked the anti-Big Tobacco attitudes.

“There’s too much of this anti-executive stuff,” an eighth grader said. “I mean who really cares? We’re kids! We sure don’t care!”

“Do they think that if we’re in a group of people and someone offers us a cigarette that we’ll stop and think, ‘hmmm…maybe I shouldn’t smoke because this means that I’ll be letting Big Tobacco target me.’ Or ‘hmm…executives tried to cover up marketing to kids, I better pass.’ No! I don’t smoke because I was raised to think smoking is a disgusting addiction that will kill you. Why would I want to kill myself?” said another eighth grader.

What the experts say

The article in the Star Tribune cited in the introduction goes on to say that some recent studies question whether kids are affected by the fact that tobacco companies are trying to manipulate them. The National Cancer Institute reported study results that found such ads “reach the kids and make them more savvy, but have ‘no impact’ on smoking intentions.”

“What matters to kids is whether their friends like the product or not,” said Cornelia Perchmann in the article. Pechmann is an expert on anti-smoking advertising at the University of California, Irvine. Her study shows that children like the anti-Big Tobacco attitudes, but are not affected by them.

Anti-smoking ad recall

Surprisingly, participants in every focus group recited anti-smoking advertisements without any encouragement. This brought out excitement in each group, with students shouting, “Oh I love that one” or “Yeah, I’ve seen that one!”

However, none of the ads the children were discussing were from TargetMarket. Florida’s the Whole TRUTH campaign was the responsible for many of the recalled ads, as well as the American Legacy Foundation.

The shocking truth

It is encouraging to know that these advertisements have grabbed the attention of so many young adolescents with wandering minds. However, the TRUTH and the American Legacy Foundation are two organizations that have run into trouble with their “controversial advertisements.”

The TRUTH is completely banned on CBS, and many single TRUTH advertisements cannot be shown anywhere else because of their shocking nature. The American Legacy Foundation has faced litigation from Big Tobacco to force them to pull their advertisements, mainly stemming from one specific ad called “Bodybags.” This ad shows thousands of body bags being piled up against a tobacco company’s exterior. (Action on Smoking and Health)

Why they're in trouble

There is simply one clause of the settlement agreement that these two organizations have not been able to avoid. “The anti-smoking advertisements cannot be personally attacking or vilifying towards the tobacco companies.” (www.house.gov)

Politics aside

Despite the clause, tobacco kills more than suicide, AIDS, illegal drug abuse, car accidents, alcohol and homicide combined. In addition, 90% of today’s adult smokers started before age 18. (TargetMarket) If these shocking advertisements are some of the few that are actually working, anti-smoking campaigns around the country should be following their lead.

Refocusing the target

Even without shock tactics, TargetMarket should be focusing their efforts away from Big Tobacco. This study and previous research has proven the correlation of parental and youth smoking.

The very first anti-smoking advertisement was not geared towards adolescents, but instead to their parents. It was made in 1967, during the short time frame when one anti-smoking message was required by the Federal Communications Commission for every four tobacco ads. The advertisement showed a young boy and girl playing dress up in their parents clothing.

“Kids love to imitate their parents,” the announcer said. “Children learn by imitating their parents. Do you smoke cigarettes?”

Parental influences

Advertisements of this nature would bypass the impenetrable minds of adolescents and hit parents where it hurts. As stated in the literature review, adolescents whose parents quit smoking were almost one-third as likely to ever be smokers than those with a parent who still smoked.

A seventh grade boy in the focus group said, “I used to steal my dad’s cigarettes because I wanted him to quit so badly. I felt like I couldn’t make much of a difference to an addicted adult, but pretty soon he felt so guilty that he stopped. He said he realized that he wasn’t being a very good role model for my brother and I.”

If parents were bombarded with guilt on a daily basis, maybe they would realize what they are actually doing to their children. In essence, a mother who smokes is handing her children a death sentence.

Other effective measures

Besides the shock ads, participants in every focus group brought up the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program and a tour of the hospital as effective ways to prevent smoking. At the hospital, the children saw a charred lung up close and compared it to a healthy pink lung.

“That lung was about the grossest thing I’ve ever seen,” said one sixth grader. “We saw it in second grade and I still remember wanting to throw up.”

A smoker in the seventh grade group said “If a picture of that lung would have popped into my mind before I had my first cigarette, I would have never smoked.”

Another sixth grader recalled the DARE graduation, where a baby’s high chair was placed on the stage with cigarettes piled up and pasted onto it.

“There was tons of cigarettes on this highchair and a little sign that said this was the amount of cigarettes a baby would smoke after one year living with parents that smoke,” recalled another sixth grader. “It was so sad!”

Listening to the kids

These statements are proof that shocking and sometimes appalling visual elements are keys to get into the adolescent mind. Because TargetMarket does not use any of the outlined tactics, the ads are ineffective.

References

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