Today's story in The Wall Street Journal provides proof that tobacco companies are routinely, and intentionally, aiming their advertising and marketing practices squarely at the hearts and minds of young kids. Unfortunately, it's these same hearts and minds that will eventually pay the ultimate price for an early addiction to nicotine in the form of heart disease and stroke.
Most smokers begin the deadly tobacco habit as kids.
Each new generation of kids has always been viewed as the next generation of customers by Big Tobacco, and their advertising practices continue to be aimed at the youth market, as The Wall Street Journal's investigation confirms. D.C. Among the findings, the American Legacy Foundation, which was created by the Master Settlement Agreement to discourage youth smoking, found that eight of the top 10 cigarette brands reached at least 70 percent of 12 to 17 year old kids with five or more magazine advertisements in 1999. Clearly, Big Tobacco's marketing and advertising practices are in direct violation of the Master Settlement Agreement of 1998, which expressly prohibits tobacco companies from targeting youths in their advertising and marketing programs. The tobacco companies apparently feel free to violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the Master Settlement Agreement at will. This disregard for public law and public health is nothing new-as witnessed by a long and continuous line of broken promises over the years.