Capital District Parent Pages, September Issue
By Janine Stuchin
One of the many joys of parenting is learning to see the world through our child’s eyes. Their curiosity and wonder of the world that surrounds them awakens us to sounds, smells and sights that run past our own senses without awareness. So much of the local landscape goes past our eyes without our recognizing it for what it is. Regrettably, our children’s ability to notice and remember images does not go unnoticed by corporate marketers. As parents we must become aware of our cluttered visual environment and identify messages and images that sabotage our attempts to keep our children healthy.
Last spring. the Greater Capital Region Tobacco Free Coalitions have joined together in a 14-county media campaign urging parents to notice the tobacco industry’s multi-billion dollar efforts to hook young smokers through tobacco advertising in stores. Partnering with the coalitions are numerous community groups including SADD hapters from Shenandehowa, Burnt Hills, and Stillwater School Districts; Girls, Inc; Boys and Girls Clubs of Schenectady and Head Start programs in the region. The “Get Mad About Ads” tobacco prevention campaign invites parents in the region to take action to protect our children’s health and to reduce the chances of them becoming a new generation of smokers.
Every day in New York state the tobacco industry works to legitimize its business and normalize the use of its deadly product. However, if you are not a smoker and you are over age 25 you probably are unaware of how much tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship goes on in our communities. For many of us, the marketing of tobacco goes on under the radar. Gone are the enormous billboards promoting Newport, Camel and Marlboro, and gone as well, the NASCAR Winston Cup. But tobacco company advertising and promotion is as prevalent and insidious as it ever was.
Look around the stores that you shop in - the convenience stores, the gas stations, the groceries - really look around. If you are a non-smoking adult, and over 80 percent of us are, you likely do not even notice the extensive amount of advertising going on around you.
How much advertising is out there? In the Capital Region, research has found that on average, stores that sell tobacco have four exterior tobacco advertisements and 20 interior tobacco advertisements.
There has been extensive research backing up the assertion that youth are influenced by tobacco advertising in stores. Tobacco advertising plastered along stores walls, dangling from store ceilings create the incorrect impression on youth that lots of people smoke. Numerous studies have linked tobacco industry marketing practices to an increased likelihood that adolescents will begin to smoke. It is not just a hunch that these advertisements are influencing youth, it is well-documented.
Here are a few facts from recently published research:
• Tobacco advertising in retail stores is a powerful influence on teen smoking; teens are significantly more likely to smoke due to advertising than they are due to peer pressure.
• Three out of four teens visit a convenience store at least once a week, and one in four make daily visits to convenience stores.
• Kids are more than twice as likely as adults to recall tobacco advertising two weeks later (55 percent compared to 23 percent in one study).
• Tobacco ads, which often make smoking look cool or glamorous, are created to appeal to teens. In addition, tobacco advertisements are often placed low, at child’s eye level, or next to candy or toys.
• The average age at which smokers try their first cigarette is 14.5.
• Over 80 percent of young smokers, ages 12 to 17, buy Marlboro, Camel and Newport, the three most heavily advertised brands in the U.S.
Retail stores are an integral part of our communities, and there are many ways that retail stores can help keep youth from viewing tobacco advertisements and products. As our children walk or drive by stores enroute to school they are visually bombarded by colorful, creative, tobacco advertising that fill the windows and doors of stores. These advertisements undermine our efforts to keep youth tobacco free.
Cigarettes and other tobacco products can and should be placed and advertised in a manner that is not attractive to children. Tobacco advertisements and products should not be placed at children’s eye level, nor should they be placed next to candy or toys. Grocery stores can take the clear tobacco display cases that are prominently placed at the front and center of a store and modify them to become opaque. Tobacco products can be sold behind the customer service counter. Retailers should be encouraged to voluntarily take steps to reduce the overall number of tobacco advertisements in their stores.
Parents, parent organizations and retailers are encouraged to contact us at 581-1230 or visit our website at: www.GetMadAboutAds.org to learn about steps we can take to keep our children tobacco free. |
