This year’s World No Tobacco Day (May 31) will see efforts to counter Big Tobacco’s campaign to get more young people to consume tobacco. The day was created by member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes.
For decades, the tobacco industry has deliberately employed strategic, aggressive and well-resourced tactics to attract youth to tobacco and nicotine products, the WHO said. Internal industry documents reveal in-depth research and calculated approaches designed to attract a new generation of tobacco users, from product design to marketing campaigns aimed at replacing the millions of people who die each year from tobacco-attributable diseases with new consumers — the youth.
The counter-marketing campaign exposes industry’s game plan and empowers young people to engage in the fight and stand up to Big Tobacco. The campaign will debunk myths and expose manipulation tactics employed by tobacco and related industries, including through introduction of new and novel products, flavours and other attractive features. The campaign will equip young people with knowledge about tobacco and related industries’ intentions and tactics to hook current and future generations on tobacco and nicotine products. And, it will empower influencers (in pop culture, on social media, in the home, or in the classroom) to protect and defend youth and catalyse change by engaging them in the fight against Big Tobacco.
The world cannot afford another generation deceived by the lies of the tobacco industry, which pretends to promote freedom of personal choice while really ensuring eternal profits — regardless of the millions of people that pay with their life each year, the WHO said, calling on influencers in pop culture, on social media, in the home, or in the classroom to reach and connect with the youth and empower them to refuse tobacco products.