Despite a 1998 agreement by tobacco companies not to target young people, some ads continue to lure teenagers to smoke, according to a study published today in the journal Pediatrics. The study said an advertising campaign for Camel No. 9 cigarettes appealed directly to young girls, possibly in violation of the 1998 legal settlement with state attorneys general.
R.J. Reynolds, the company that makes the cigarettes, pulled the ads in 2008. But the study says they had already influenced teenage girls. One of the ads is framed in hot pink, with the camel icon colored to match, and features flowers circling two packs of Camel No. 9.
From the study:
These findings suggest that the Camel No. 9 campaign may have been similar to the Joe Camel campaign in its targeting of underaged youth. Some 44% of adolescent girls nominated a favorite cigarette ad in 2007, and the evidence in this national sample is consistent with earlier studies showing that these girls are at a 50% increased risk of starting to smoke.”
R.J. Reynolds disputed many of the study’s findings and said it follows the 1998 agreement.
Read the study abstract here. Photos of the ads and more about the study in The New York Times Well Blog.
