Published on September 25, 2008
An alarming quantity of teenagers are drinking and smoking. And now there’s growing concern that companies are marketing these adult products to teens.
America’s minors are inundated with visual appeals to smoke and drink.
While the tobacco and alcohol industries insist their products are aimed at adults, critics charge beverages like Sparks and colored tobacco products are tailor-made for teens. Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal said: “Alcohol and caffeine are really double trouble when they’re marketed to kids and when they create the illusion of alertness combined with the impairment of alcohol.”
The student, Maria Gomez, said: “Well, they are influencing younger kids with all these flavors and that’s not good. When they get older, they might be addicted to these things.”
And that is what concerns prosecutors of 27 states and the District of Columbia, who are indicting breweries that are highly attractive to underage youth. If the breweries don’t accomplish, the lawyers are threatening lawsuits. Meantime, an anti-smoking organization is pushing for tighter regulation of the tobacco industry.
Matthew Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said: “The sad truth is, a very heavy percentage of tobacco industry marketing is targeted directly at non-smoking adolescents.”
Myers heads Tobacco-Free Kids, which issued a damning report against companies like R.J. Reynolds. 11 years ago, it was forced to drop its cartoon-like Joe Camel advertisements.
Now, a new dispute is the use of high fashion to sell its Camel cigarettes brand. R.J. Reynolds affirms it’s targeting women, not teens.
David Howard of the R.J. Reynolds company said: “Despite what the colors look like, despite what the advertising says, the primary point is: it’s illegal to sell tobacco products to minors in all 50 states.”
But critics say the problem is not the law – it is the message, which can convince teens to try smoking and drinking.
