Kids And Smoking

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate August 2001

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KIDS & TOBACCO: Philip Morris USA Kids do smoke, and recently tobacco companies have continued to market anti-smoking ads towards kids. 3,000 teens a day who become new smokers, 1000 will die from a tobacco related diseases and have an annual death toll of more than 400,000 says Current Health (1996). These alarming numbers have affected the tobacco industry very harshly. On August 10, 1995, President Clinton implemented laws that would prevent the marketing and sales of tobacco to minors. The result of the rules Clinton implemented made companies like Philip Morris have to come up with ad campaigns to prevent kids from smoking. The belief is that kids begin smoking while there young. Also said in Current Health, "Eighty-two percent of all adults who have ever smoked started before the age of 18. In 1994, almost 19 percent of eighth graders already were smoking. By twelfth grade, 31 percent"”almost one in three"”were smokers."

Obviously, this is a very preventable problem in America. Philip Morris feels that their ads will help prevent kids from smoking and make parents more aware of the problems of smoking. While Philip Morris is trying to convince youth smokers not to smoke, it still reinforces that it is all right for adults to smoke (although they know it kills). Therefore, by Philip Morris knowing that they need to attract customers, and blending that with antismoking ads makes readers is much more skeptical about the goals of the Big Tobacco companies. External evidence that applies to the ad, are the goals set by the government to decline teen smoking by 30 percent in 7 years. On top of that, 60 percent a decade from now, if these marks aren't reached the tobacco companies will pay for it, with as much as $2 billion in tax...