WUNRN
CAMEL NO. 9 CIGARETTE ADS APPEAL TO
TEEN GIRLS - STUDY
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A study shows that advertising for Camel No. 9, introduced in 2007 by R.J. Reynolds, appealed to teen girls. Camel No. 9 is still on shelves, but the tobacco company has stopped marketing it in stores and in print.
By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY - 3/15/2010 A recent marketing
campaign for Camel cigarettes appears to have attracted the interest of teen
girls, a study shows. The ads for Camel No. 9 cigarettes — which ran in magazines
such as Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Glamour — were a hit
with girls ages 12 to 16, says a study of 1,036 adolescents published online
in Pediatrics. Promotional giveaways for the new brand, which was launched in
2007, included berry-flavored lip balm, cellphone jewelry, purses and
wristbands, the study says. David Howard, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds, which makes
Camel, says the ads were aimed at adults, noting that 85% of the magazines'
readers are over 18. Tobacco companies agreed not to target kids as part of
the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with state attorneys general. He notes
that teen smoking rates have continued to decline since the ads were
introduced. But the ads were clearly noticed by teenagers, says study
co-author Cheryl Healton, president of the anti-smoking group the American
Legacy Foundation, which interviewed teens about their awareness of cigarette
brands. In 2008, within a year of the ads' debut, 22% of girls listed
Camel as their favorite cigarette ad. That's twice the number who listed
Camel as their favorite in four earlier interviews taken for the study. That
suggests that it was the new campaign — not older Camel products — that
captured girls' attention, Healton says. Being able to remember a tobacco ad shows that kids are taking
an interest in cigarettes, says co-author John Pierce of the Moores Cancer
Center at the University of California-San Diego. Non-smoking teens who can
name a favorite ad are 50% more likely to begin smoking than other kids, the
study says. There was no major change in boys' preferences. Overall,
nearly half of girls could name a favorite cigarette ad, suggesting that ads
are still reaching children, despite the marketing ban, Pierce says. Howard says R.J. Reynolds pulled print ads for its cigarettes
in 2008. Ads don't need to include cartoon characters to appeal to
young people, says the American Cancer Society's Tom Glynn. In
fact, ads that depict smoking as fashionable and grown-up actually make it
more attractive to teens, he says. About 80% of smokers take up the habit
before age 18. |
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