Girls and Young Women Newest Targets of Big Tobacco

excerpts from a report released Feb 18, 2009 from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

The tobacco industry has a long history of developing cigarette brands and marketing campaigns that target women and girls, with devastating consequences for women's health.

In the last two years, the industry has launched its most aggressive marketing campaigns aimed at women and girls in over a decade. These campaigns are again putting the health of women and girls at risk and underscore the need for Congress to pass legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products.

The nation's two largest tobacco companies-Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds-have launched new marketing campaigns that depict cigarette smoking as feminine and fashionable, rather than the harmful and deadly addiction it really is:

In October 2008, Philip Morris USA announced a makeover of its Virginia Slims brand into "purse packs"-- small, rectangular cigarette packs that contain "superslim" cigarettes. Available in mauve and teal and half the size of regular cigarette packs, the sleek "purse packs" resemble packages of cosmetics and fit easily in small purses. They come in "Superslims Lights" and "Superslims Ultra Lights" versions, continuing the tobacco industry's history of associating smoking with weight control and of appealing to women's health concerns with misleading claims such as "light" and "low-tar." http://tobaccofreekids.org/slideshow/deadlyinpink_2009_01/slideshow_full.html

In January 2007, R.J. Reynolds launched a new version of its Camel cigarettes, called Camel No. 9, packaged in shiny black boxes with hot pink and teal borders. The name evoked famous Chanel perfumes, and magazine advertising featured flowery imagery and vintage fashion. The ads carried slogans including "Light and luscious" and "Now available in stiletto," the latter for a thin version of the cigarette pitched to "the most fashion forward woman." Ads ran in magazines popular with women and girls, including: Vogue, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and InStyle. Promotional giveaways included flavored lip balm, cell phone jewelry, tiny purses and wristbands, all in hot pink.
http://tobaccofreekids.org/slideshow/deadlyinpink_2009_02/slideshow_full.html

Previous marketing campaigns have had a devastating impact on women's health. The nation's latest cancer statistics, released in December 2008, showed that while lung cancer death rates are decreasing for men, and overall cancer death rates are decreasing for both men and women, lung cancer death rates have yet to decline for women.

Watch the video: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/microsites/deadlyinpink/?autologin=true

To read the entire report, visit the Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids website (link located under "tobacco links").