WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Think smoking on Saturday isn't a problem? What about smoking only at parties? Or only during final exams? Think again. truth® warns 'IT'S A TRAP' – in a new ad that humorously dismantles the misperception that social smoking isn't smoking. The ad will air during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards on August 30.
Today's teens are within reach of becoming the generation to end smoking for good - teen cigarette use has dropped from 23% to 8% since the start of the truth campaign in 2000. But as many as one in four teens today say they think social smoking - also called light or intermittent smoking - poses no risk at all to their health. That's just not true.
Here's what is true:
Half of teens who try cigarettes in college are still smoking four years later.
Research shows that current teens who smoked two cigarettes a week at the age of 12 were 174 times more likely to be heavy smokers as adults.
It isn't just traditional cigarettes that are deadly and addictive - hookah and other combustibles use is on the rise. Hookah and little cigars come in flavors like bubblegum and strawberry that are meant to make them appealing to youth. These tobacco products have similar compounds to traditional cigarettes and are just as harmful and addictive.
In a one-hour hookah session, for example, a user inhales smoke equivalent to 50 to 100 cigarettes – that's like smoking five packs of cigarettes in one hour.
Hookah smoke and little cigars contain the addictive drug nicotine, along with tar, carcinogens and heavy metals.
"Teens want to believe that social smoking is a casual, harmless activity, but very simply: It's a Trap," said Robin Koval, CEO and president of the national public health foundation that directs and funds the truth campaign and has recently introduced plans to be called Truth Initiative. "Our new ad uses pop-culture memes to make the point that no matter what type of tobacco and no matter the frequency, smoking is smoking, and it comes with serious and life-limiting health consequences."
"Tobacco products are the ultimate trap," said Eric Asche, the organization's chief marketing officer. "Using the social language on the internet to explain the social behavior of smoking makes it hyper-relevant to youth allowing them to feel like we are talking with them in their vernacular."
This latest ad is a continuation of the Finish It campaign kicked off by truth one year ago. The campaign empowers smokers and nonsmokers alike to make this the generation that ends tobacco use by giving teens the facts about tobacco, sharing progress in the fight against the tobacco epidemic and providing tools teens can use to make the fight against Big Tobacco their own. The ad follows "Finishers 2.0," which premiered on the Teen Choice Awards earlier this month to introduce the dangerous realities of alternative forms of smoking.
About truth truth® is the most successful and longest running national youth smoking prevention campaigns. The campaign exposes the tactics of the tobacco industry, the truth about addiction, and the health effects and social consequences of smoking. truth gives teens facts to make their own informed choices about tobacco use and inspires them to use their social influence and creativity in the fight against tobacco. The campaign is credited with preventing hundreds of thousands of teens from starting to smoke, and is working to make this the generation that ends smoking for good. To learn more, visit thetruth.com. truth is part of a national public health organization dedicated to achieving a culture where all youth and young adults reject tobacco. In September the organization will officially change its name to Truth Initiative. To learn more about their work speaking, seeking and spreading the truth about tobacco, visit truthinitiative.org.
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