Half of all adolescent smokers will still be smoking 20 years from now. Unfortunately, most people start smoking when they are adolescents and very inexperienced with making decisions that can profoundly affect them the rest of their lives. Most new tobacco users seriously underestimate the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine, despite the fact that the probability of trying tobacco, becoming addicted, and dying prematurely is higher than for any other drug. Nicotine addiction can occur within three months of daily use, and half of daily smokers will die from a tobacco-related illness. This adds up to about 2 million people internationally, and about 450,000 people in the United States who die from cigarette smoking.
Advertising is the primary method of competition in the tobacco industry.
Unlike many other businesses, tobacco companies do not compete in price, but instead try to increase sales through their advertising and promotional campaigns. Tobacco companies are listed in the top 10 advertisers in 21 out of 50 countries. In 1996, Philip Morris was the ninth largest advertiser worldwide, and the third largest in the United States. Documents from internal communications within the tobacco industry revealed that tobacco companies did intentionally develop advertising and promotional campaigns to market to children and adolescents. After the RJ Reynolds Company introduced this campaign, Camel's market share among underage smokers jumped from 3 percent to 13 percent in just three years.