truth® continues to present baffling Q’s and A’s in documentary-style campaign

4/9/2007

truth® continues to present baffling Q’s and A’s in documentary-style campaign

Washington, D.C., April 9, 2007 – truth^®, the American Legacy Foundation^®’s national youth smoking prevention campaign, continues to capture real people’s reactions to the marketing tactics of the tobacco industry in the second phase of its truth^® documentary campaign. Called “documentary” for the style in which the ads are shot, the television advertisements feature one correspondent and a camera crew investigating the absurdity behind some ideas from Big Tobacco. The first phase of the truth^® documentary campaign launched in May 2006 and was on the air through October.

For instance, the roving correspondent dresses up in a full size, brightly colored, plush puppet costume and hits the streets of New York City to see who exactly finds puppets appealing. He begins at Cedar Liberty Plaza and notices that all of the business people pass by with barely a second glance, and certainly no interest. He then travels to various parks and playgrounds, one of which being Tompkins Square Park, where he is instantly mobbed by children. This leads him to question who the puppet appeals to most. In 1979, a tobacco company supplied its product to be featured in the G-rated film The Muppet Movie, even after a tobacco executive had said he would avoid advertising directed to young people.

Each of the illogical situations in the campaign raises a few questions, but the one that sums up the confusion, frustration, disbelief, and anger in a language that best resonates with teens is the central question of the campaign: “whudafxup?” This made-up word has its roots in the youth culture of today and resonates with the truth^® campaign’s target demographic of sensation-seeking 12-17 year olds. truth^® ads are in-your-face and hard-hitting because teens respond to up-front and powerful messages that display courage and honesty in a forceful way.

“This campaign seeks to highlight the absurdities of tobacco industry marketing. The truth^® campaign’s success stems from its ability to consistently reach teens in their own language, and that’s exactly what we do with our new campaign – speak to teens in their own vernacular,” said Cheryl Healton Dr. P.H., president and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation®. “After the first phase of the documentary campaign, we found that more than 80% of teens we polled said the ads grabbed their attention. Given that teens today are ever-more resistant to advertising, and especially unforgiving of inauthentic messages, these are very strong results and we wanted to carry the campaign forward.”

Starting mid-April, 2007, the campaign will roll out with two television ads, called Puppet and Gun Store, as well as new interactive components on the award-winning Web site, http://www.thetruth.com/. Additional TV spots will roll out in late May/early June. The television spots will air on popular youth channels such as MTV, Comedy Central, Spike, fuse, The N and BET, among others. Print advertisements will follow in popular youth magazines in May.

The sole on-air talent used for this campaign is that of roving correspondent Derrick Beckles of Vice Films in Canada. Beckles is a satirist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. All other people appearing in the ads are members of the public.

More complete content of the television spots follows:

Puppet: “As long ago as 1969, a tobacco company executive agreed to ‘Avoid advertising directed to young people.’ Yet ten years later, they supplied their products to be featured in The Muppet Movie.” In the Puppet spot, Derrick dresses in a puppet costume and hits the streets of New York to test exactly who is interested in G-rated images like puppets. The adults on Wall Street largely ignore him, while children in a park flock to him. Smoking in the movies continues to be an issue to this day: a national study of adolescents in the United States found that 38 percent of youth smoking initiation can be traced to exposure to smoking in movies.

In Gun Store, Derrick visits a gun store and asks a salesman to see different types of bullets like “light,” “ultra-light,” or “low-lead.” The salesman then informs Derrick that there is no such thing – essentially all bullets work the same way to harm or kill. Derrick explains his confusion by informing the salesman that their cigarettes labeled “light,” “ultra-light,” or “low-tar” are just as addictive and deadly as other tobacco products, pointing out a ridiculous analogy.

truth^® documentary will be supported with a comprehensive Internet presence and through print ads that will appear in popular youth-oriented magazines, such as Vibe, Mass Appeal, Cosmo Girl!, The Fader and Complex. The print ads use graffiti art elements, and follow the documentary theme by encouraging youth to ask questions. These ads, called Polonium 210, Two-Faced and Plant, reveal:

Polonium 210, the same radioactive element used to allegedly murder a Russian spy, is also found in cigarette smoke.
While tobacco companies’ Web sites encourage people to quit smoking, a 2006 court decision recently found that tobacco companies manipulate nicotine levels to keep smokers addicted.
· One tobacco company biologically engineered tobacco plants that have twice their normal level of nicotine.

The ads are all photographs of graffiti created by United Kingdom artist Eelus, whose grandfather’s death from cancer created a personal connection to the issue for him. “Big tobacco companies can legally and openly sell a product that kills around 1200 Americans every day,” says Eelus, adding that “as long as people smoke they [tobacco companies] have the power.”

The truth® Web site (http://www.thetruth.com/ and http://www.whudafxup.com/) will feature a whole new design with new interactive elements, including:

A video section that allows users to stream current truth^® TV spots.
A tobacco clipboard that allows users to access facts about tobacco -- facts that they can then e-mail to friends.
Posters featuring stencils from graphic artist Eelus, as well as posters of current truth^® print ads.
Unique branded "widgets" for MySpace that allows users to customize their MySpace experience.
A video featuring a "behind the scenes" look at graphic artist Eelus in action at a truth^® print shoot.

In addition, the site will feature an "Arsenal" section that allows users to:

stream memorable truth^® spots from past campaigns.
access actual tobacco industry documents.
download posters of prior truth^® campaign print ads
play games.

Also on the interactive front, truth^® continues its presence on social networking sites popular with teens. truth^®-branded pages will appear on social network sites such as MySpace, Xanga, Bebo, Piczo, and Hi-5. The new truth^® profile pages will launch on Xango, Bebo, Piczo and Hi-5 on Tuesday, April 17, while the MySpace profile page will launch on Monday, April 23. Both efforts will be supported by an online advertising campaign.

The truth^® documentary campaign was created by the American Legacy Foundation® and its partners, Arnold Worldwide of Boston and Crispin Porter + Bogusky of Miami. The campaign will run through October 2007.

Background on the truth^® campaign:

truth^®, launched in February 2000, is the largest national youth smoking prevention campaign and the only national campaign not directed by the tobacco industry. The campaign exposes the tactics of the tobacco industry, the truth about addiction, and the health effects and social consequences of smoking. truth^®, allows teens to make informed choices about tobacco use by giving them the facts about the industry and its products. The campaign was created by the American Legacy Foundation, which was founded as a result of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between the tobacco industry, 46 states and five U.S. territories. Payments to the American Legacy Foundation are made on behalf of the settling states.

In February 2005 the American Legacy Foundation released the results of an evaluation of the national truth^® campaign that was published in the American Journal of Public Health. The study found that 22 percent of the overall decline in youth smoking during the first two years of the campaign (2000-2002) is directly attributable to truth^®. This equates to 300,000 fewer youth smokers in 2002 as a result of the campaign.

The American Legacy Foundation, which provides strategic direction and funding for the truth^® campaign, received in 2003 what is likely its final payment to the National Public Education Fund established by the Master Settlement Agreement. Despite its success, the truth^® campaign now faces an unprecedented funding challenge.

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Contact: Trish O’Callaghan, the ad*itive, 215-525-1404
Patricia McLaughlin, American Legacy Foundation, 202-454-5560