Research on The new tobacco fight

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Research has always argued that the increased advertisement of tobacco is directly proportional to the increased consumption of the commodity. The sales and marketing strategies by the tobacco companies have rampantly recruited new smokers especially teenagers. This is in contrast to the idea that the tobacco company has. The manufacturers of tobacco believe that the marketing of the product has only enhanced marketing shares of a particular brand without necessarily recruiting new smokers.

It is never right to say that the banning of advertisement of tobacco will lead to a decrease in consumption. Studies have been put forward to elaborate on the relationship between tobacco advertisement and consumption. The three main types of studies that have been put forward include: econometric research that is used to show the link between the consumption of tobacco and the rate of spending of the tobacco users. The second study has been used to relate the rate of consumption of a country before the banning of the advertisement and after the ban. Lastly the international trends of tobacco consumption and the measures that have been put in place to barn the tobacco use are compared (Pollay 1997).

In the initial study of the comparison between the expenditure and advertisement, various things are considered: price, available income, and other issues are considered to avoid wrong conclusions. The administration of age as a factor is not put in question in this study. The findings show that when more is spent on the advertisement of tobacco, there is an increase in demand for the product and consumption also increases. When the ban of the advertisement is put in place, there is a reduction in the consumption of the tobacco products. In the conclusion drawn from the research in a country before and after a ban it was discovered that there was a general poor application of the banning process but in places where the ban was well implemented, there were reduced cases of the use of tobacco (Pollay, 1997).

The major examples include: Norway in 1975 there was a complete ban on advertisement, sponsorship, public information or health warnings and age limitation on the sale of tobacco was placed. Later on it was reported that there was a smoking reduction of nine percent is the whole region and this was a along term effect.

In 1997 in Finland there were strong campaigns against smoking, age limitation was placed on the dale of tobacco products, there was banning of smoking in public buildings and this reduced the consumption of cigarettes by 6.7%.

In 1989 in Canada there was the increased prizing of tobacco products and the complete ban on advertisement, the results were reduced there was a correction on the prizes but there was a 4% reduction on the general consumption of tobacco. In France in 1991 there was a complete advertising ban on tobacco, smoking in public places was prohibited and there was removal of tobacco from the consumer prize index the results were the reduction of tobacco consumption by 7%. Lastly there was the advertisement ban of the product in New Zealand in 1990, also there was an increased prize for the tobacco products which resulted to reduced sales of 7.5% of which 5.5% was because of the ban (Redmond, 1999).

A study known as ‘cross sectional time series analysis’ was used to compare the trends of tobacco advertisement and consumption in various countries. The results showed that in any country where the government is in control of the use, sale, advertisement, sponsorship and consumption of tobacco there was a reduced use in general by the public. Also it was shown that the more strict the ban was the less consumed was the product. For countries that dwelt on restrictions through the television or radio or newspapers or any other media service, the warning was not strictly adhered to. The effect of the ban on young people was minimal.

The young ones basically were advised by acquiring health education in various institutions, the adverts only make them aware of what they already know. Youth norms and attitude on smoking is entirely dependant on individual behavior. The tobacco industry has invested a lot on outdoor advertisement, the use of billboards, posters and other campaigns have been applied. The restrictions that entail this type of advertisement are the idea of not placing such ads within certain distance from schools.

Other forms of advertisement have been used by the companies. This indirect advertisement method greatly attracts the young adults in life. The advertisements include: sponsorship of sport events or cultural events, displays on point of sale, the use of tobacco names as part of brand names, the placement of the products in television and film shows, direct mailings, special sales and promotions (Aitken, 1990).

The ads that are used to promote the product tend to have the wrong information for teenagers. For instance some teenagers might be feeling low and have low self esteem and the advertisement is showing that the use of the product raises ones self esteem, this causes the teenager to wrongly interpret the message and they end up experimenting on smoking. Other messages that are preserved by the smokers include: the idea that one may get more handsome or beautiful, attractive, cool famous and others.

The different people in the world have are influenced in different ways by the advertisement of tobacco. You adults and teenagers are encouraged to experiment on the drug through this advertisements, this will be the cause   of an upcoming addiction to the individual. Also smokers increase their daily tobacco intake through seeing of the ads, studies have shown that the crave for a cigarette increases or starts when a smokers sees a cigarette ad or smells it from someone else. Through advertisement smokers are not encouraged to quit smoking and lastly are through these advertisements that former smokers resume their old habits of smoking (Bonnie, 1994).

The use of bill boards in the advertisement of cigarettes is very effective because; the billboards are a favorite tool for the ads of cigarettes, also the billboards cannot be avoided, it is also through billboards that the children are constantly exposed to the  information of the existence of cigarettes, the billboards occur in our neighborhood and they have the massage loud and clear, in urban areas and the inner city environment the billboards are used to target racial and ethnic minorities in the society (Pollay, 1997).

We can easily say that in conclusion, the use of tobacco by young people especially has continued to increase, the young people form anew market for the tobacco use daily, the youth get information about the cigarettes readily through the media, the use of images to attract customers in the advertisements has increased the attraction of young adults to the use of cigarettes and hence is has increased its usage. The information portrayed through the adverts show that an individual can improve their image or basically get noticed in a positive way but talking the product, this is not usually the case. The misinterpretation of the advertisements has also increased the use of this product.

The use of adequate information and health warning signs on the tobacco advertisement is encouraged by the government. This does not occur because such warnings are inform of very minute writings at the bottom of the billboards or the statement may be mentioned at the end of an advertisement on radio or TV, the interest of the listeners at this time will already be low and the advice will not readily be adhered to (Andrew 1991).

Despite the efforts to reduce smoking most countries have not been strict enough with rules that entail partial banns on the smoking and therefore they always fail. The food and drug authority was given then authority to control the prize, sale distribution and advertisement of tobacco; this was in order to control teenagers from consuming the product. The FDA also played a role in educating the adults of the carcinogenic effects that tobacco has to their health. The education assisted the adults in quitting the use   of the product and some reduced on the intake. To discourage the use of the tobacco products a ban on fruity flavors and candy flavors of cigarettes was placed. There was also the manufacture of smokeless tobacco products, these products were thought to be less h armful to health as they contained less carcinogenic elements that the normal cigarettes. The fewer carcinogens do not enter the lungs and therefore poisoning and lung cancer is minimized. The passing of the bill for the advertisement of the smokeless tobacco products is still in struggle in court with the FDA because the tobacco company has no prove that the products are less harmful (Andrew 1991).

The collaboration between American heart association and American lung association to fight against the tobacco industry lead to the development of the largest campaign against tobacco use called ‘campaign of tobacco free kids’ by Mathew Myers. Smoking in commercial air flights was banned, new health warning labels were established on the cigarette packets, and ads on TV and radio were eliminated. Although this was a great idea there was a general decrease in the warning adverts about cigarette smoking and related health issues. Although there were less persons becoming new smokers, the old smokers did not have sufficient information on the harm they are doing to their bodies.

The mission of the tobacco use prevention program is to minimize on the diseases that are associated with the use of tobacco. Health issues that can be prevented include: lung cancer, skin cancer, chest infections, breathing problems and others. Most of these diseases are seen later on in life especially for someone who has been smoking g for a long time. In pregnant women the use of tobacco has led to the birth of immature children or children with mental disabilities like retardation.

The main goals addressed by the Georgia’s tobacco use prevention program include; the reduced initiation of tobacco use by the youth, promoting the stoppage of use of tobacco products in young people and adults, reducing the exposure of non smoking group of people to secondary smoke, reducing environmental contamination through exhalation of the smoke, reducing the various disparities associated with a smoking community (Hastings, 1995).

The idea of reducing alcohol and fatty foods intake has been considered. High taxations have been implemented but to no avail. Fatty foods are a major cause of obesity in the society. Clear food labeling to raise awareness of the consumer on the calorie content of the product has been implemented. This has not minimized the consumption of the commodity and hence obesity is still at large. A tight regulatory frame work has been put in place to check for the food transportation and implementation. Citizens are being encouraged to do physical exercise and participate in sporting activities. There is construction of parks and jogging tracks to encourage physical fitness, but still the intake of very fatty foods is reported. Creating a barn on high energy foods is not necessarily the solution to the problem; instead the citizens should be educated on the harmful effects of the intake of such products to their health. Also the food industry should more pro active as it has a great influence on the feeding habits of individuals, lastly all advertisements that give miss information to the public about a certain food product should be banned.

On the other hand alcohol is not any different. There is increased consumption of alcohol especially with the youth. Despite the various warnings during advertisements and the legislative bill that children under the age of eighteen should not be sold to alcoholic products, they still get a way of getting the alcohol. Like tobacco companies, the alcohol manufactures have come up with marketing projects through promotion of various events and sports that include the youth in the participation; this has lead to encouragement of alcohol consumption within the society and especially among the youth. Various ways that have been implemented to take care of the issue include: counter advertisement, hike of the prices of alcohol, limiting of stocks and parenting programs (Smith 2007).

Basically there is a problem that is encountered in trying to omit tobacco, alcohol and highly fatty products in the market and the most essential step to take is to educate individuals on the harmful effect of this products.