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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 "In summary, our analysis suggests that tobacco company youth- and parent-targeted smoking prevention advertising campaigns confer no benefit to youths, and especially for older teens, parent-targeted advertising may have harmful relations," they concluded.
David Sutton, a spokesman for Philip Morris USA, refused to comment on the validity of the Australian study.
Sutton noted, however, that the company's current anti-smoking ads are indeed directed at parents.
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"Many experts say that parents are the greatest single influence on their children's decision not to smoke," he said.
Two industry critics see these "anti-smoking" ad campaigns as just another way to promote smoking.
"These results are very important because they demonstrate that the tobacco company's nominal 'youth smoking prevention' programs do not prevent kids from smoking," said Stanton A. Glantz, a professor of medicine at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco.
"These programs, like earlier similar efforts by the tobacco industry, simply serve the industry's public relations needs and support their political efforts to displace meaningful tobacco control," Glantz said. "The industry should immediately suspend these programs."
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' McGoldrick agreed.
"The tobacco companies should pull these campaigns immediately," he said. "The tobacco companies should stay away from our kids."
The findings were published the same day that American researchers reported that high-tech ventilation systems often used in smoky venues are no match for secondhand smoke.
Based on tests conducted during the study, "dining in a restaurant or bar's nonsmoking section does not significantly reduce exposure to smoke-related pollutants, even in those few establishments that use these sophisticated, expensive ventilation systems," study co-author James Repace, an adjunct professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and a secondhand smoke consultant, said in a prepared statement.
His report was published in the Oct. 31 online edition of AQ Applications.
The bottom line, according to Repace: "Smoking bans remain the only viable option that protects the health of nonsmokers and hospitality workers."
More information
Effective ways to help keep kids from cigarettes can be found at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (www.tobaccofreekids.org ).
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