DID YOU KNOW?

Half of adults who smoke were regular smokers by their 18th birthday, and 90 percent had started by the age of 21. (source: American Lung Association)

Tobacco Industry Answers

1. In 2007, Altria (formerly Philip Morris) collected billions more in profits from international tobacco sales than U.S. tobacco sales.
a True
b. False

In 2007, Altria made $55 billion in profit on international tobacco sales compared to the $18.5 billion from U.S. tobacco sales. In recent years tobacco use has been declining in many countries in North America and Western Europe but increasing in many others, especially in Asia. Almost 30% of the world’s smokers live in China. Over 300 million people in China – equal to the entire U.S. population – are smokers!

2. How much money do the major tobacco companies spend each year to promote their products?
a. $5 billion a year
b. $8 billion a year
c. $13.5 billion a year
d. $18 billion a year
e. $22 billion a year

The major cigarette companies, alone, now spend about $13.5 billion per year (or more than $37 million every day) to promote their products; many of their marketing efforts directly reach kids.

For more information, see these resources:
Smoke-Free Laws Are a Growing Trend
Summary of 100% Smokefree State Laws and Population Protected by 100$ U.S. Smokefree Laws

3. What percentage of all regular smokers begins smoking at or before age 18?
a. 72%
b. 95%
c. 86%
d. 69%
e. 90%

Even though the tobacco industry claims it does not market to underage youth, the cigarette companies are addicted to underage smoking; hardly anybody tries their first cigarette outside of childhood. In other words, if kids stopped smoking, the cigarette companies market of smokers would shrink away to almost nothing. But thanks, in large part, to cigarette company marketing efforts, each day more than 3,500 kids try smoking for the first time, and another 1,000 kids become regular daily smokers.

4. Tobacco companies have carefully designed their products to attract new users, and are even appealing to youth. Their internal documents discuss various ways to make their products more appealing to new users, especially with the use of:
a. Candy, fruit, and alcohol flavored cigarettes, smokeless tobacco products, and little cigars
b. Bright and colorful packaging
c. Placing alluring packaging and advertisements in magazines popular with youth, like Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, and Sports Illustrated
d. Tobacco products packs decorated with cartoon-like images, and trendy, candy-like product names
e. All of the above

In recent years, R.J. Reynolds introduced Camel Exotic Blends, which came in flavors such as Twista Lime, Kauai Kolada, Margarita Mixer, Warm Winter Toffee, and Winter Mocha Mint, among others. A 2006 settlement agreement specified that R.J. Reynolds could not use specific terms such as “sweet” and “creamy” to market any future flavored cigarettes in media accessible to the general public. The company released Camel Signature Blends in mid-2007, describing these cigarettes using words such as “sweet apple-like flavor,” “toasted honey,” “creamy finish,” and “cocoa,” on its age restricted website and in direct mail to consumers.

Cigars, cigarillos and little cigars can easily be mistaken for candy by adults and children alike with their colorful packaging, various flavors, and frequent placement near candy displays in retail outlets.

5. What are the three brands of cigarettes most preferred by youth smokers?
a. Kool, Salem, and American Spirit
b. Marlboro, Newport, and Camel
c. Maverick, Kent, Winston
d. Pall Mall, Parliament, Misty
e. Basic, Seneca, Lucky Strike

Philip Morris’ Marlboro, Lorillard’s Newport, and R.J. Reynolds’ Camel are the three most heavily advertised cigarette brands of the tobacco industry. 87% of youth smokers prefer these brands, with 55% of youth smokers smoking Marlboro. Less than half of adult smokers prefer these brands

6. A June 2008 study by the National Cancer Institute, "The Role of the Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use", confirmed that tobacco industry-sponsored youth smoking prevention programs are “generally ineffective” at reducing youth smoking and may have caused some youth to start smoking.
a. True
b. False

A systematic review of mass media campaigns on youth smoking published in 2008–"The Role of the Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use"–found that tobacco industry-funded youth prevention campaigns have minimal impact on youth smoking because they avoid the most powerful anti-tobacco themes of health effects and industry manipulation. Industry youth prevention media campaigns that position smoking as an adult habit or as a “choice” and ignore the consequences of smoking are not effective, and in fact may undermine the effects of aggressive media campaigns.

7. In the last two years, Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds have launched new marketing campaigns aimed directly at women and young girls that depict cigarette smoking as feminine and fashionable to counter the growing public consensus that smoking is socially unacceptable and unhealthy. What are these new products that are being directly marketed to young girls and women? (Choose all that apply)
a. Roll-Your-Own Tobacco
b. Virginia Slims Purse Packs
c. Benson and Hedges
d. Camel No. 9
e. Marlboro Wides

These new marketing campaigns represent the most aggressive efforts by the tobacco industry to target women and girls in at least a decade. In October 2008, Philip Morris USA announced a makeover of its iconic Virginia Slims brand into “purse packs” – small, rectangular cigarette packs that contain “superslim” cigarettes bearing a striking resemblance to packages of cosmetics, fitting easily in small purses. In January 2007, R.J. Reynolds launched a new version of its Camel cigarette, called Camel No. 9, packaged in shiny black boxes with hot pink and teal borders. The name evoked famous Chanel perfumes, and the marketing campaign associated the brand with romance and glamour through magazine ads that featured flowery imagery and vintage fashion. “Light and luscious” promised the first ads in the campaign. “Now available in stiletto” and “dressed to the 9s,” read a later magazine ad that pitched a thin version of the cigarette to “the most fashion forward woman.” Read more at www.cancerno9.org.