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Teens Condemn International Tobacco Marketing Practices
June 21, 2001

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News Summary

Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) says that tobacco companies are using marketing practices banned in the U.S. to attract teens in other countries to their products, Reuters reported June 20.

The study's findings were based on 10,000 responses from teens in China, Germany, India, Poland, and Latin America who clicked on SWAT's banner ad on the Music Television Network's websites for those countries. The ad led to a questionnaire that asked teens about their exposure to cigarette ads and other marketing tools in their countries.

"In the past week, more than 62 percent of teenagers in these countries have been exposed to tobacco advertising in some form," said Thomas Philpot, 17, chairman of SWAT. "The tobacco companies learned that marketing to teens and kids worked in this country, but since they can't do it here anymore, they've taken what they learned to other countries."

Chapters of the Florida teen anti-smoking group also "adopted" nations to learn about how cigarettes are marketed. Among other things, the research showed that cigarette logos appear on baby clothes and found tobacco companies sponsoring contests for children.

One disturbing trend, said Anna White of Essential Action, a Washington, D.C.-based citizen's group, is that marketing efforts link tobacco with American affluence and culture. "In most of the world, the Marlboro Man isn't just a symbol of the Wild West, he's a symbol of the West," White said. "You can't convince people that all Americans don't smoke."

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