The Facts
The tobacco industry has marketed their products to teens for over 70 years. The industry spends nearly 1 million dollars per hour marketing their products. Tobacco companies now own some of the most popular vaping brands.
Inquiry
Which vape brands are owned or partially owned by these tobacco companies: Altria, Imperial Tobacco, and JTI-MacDonald?
Response
“Today’s teenager is tomorrow’s potential regular customer, and the overwhelming majority of smokers first begin to smoke while still in their teens…The smoking patterns of teenagers are particularly important to Philip Morris.” – Phillip Morris Tobacco Company, 1981
- Express your opinion about this quote: What does it make you think?
- Why do you think tobacco companies are so interested in the smoking patterns of teens?
Communication
Choose one of the old tobacco advertisements below. Analyze the ad by answering the following questions:
- Who did they make the ad for (who is the target audience)? Why do you think that?
- What is the message of the ad?
- What strategies did the company use to make the product appealing?
- Adapt the ad to create a new one that shares the truth about the harms of the product (this is called “counter advertising”).
Call to Action
"Tobacco Industry: Truth Exposed!" Use the information you learned about the tobacco industry to create a graffiti wall as a group. Write messages or draw pictures on a paper banner and post it for other students to see.
Learn More:
- You Are The Target
- Mad Men Lucky Strike Ad Pitch (2:38 minutes)