A campaign to denounce the targeting of the black community by the tobacco industry

The industry has a long history of targeting the Black community and this continues today. In a call to end these actions, Truth Initiative has partnered with members of the Black community to launch its latest campaign “Read between the Lies”

Run by the organization Truth Initiative and promoted by Black Voices, the campaign features videos featuring Black people reading and responding to quotes from confidential internal tobacco company documents. These quotes illustrate how the tobacco industry deliberately targets the Black community. The campaign invites viewers to go online to learn more about the health disparities in the Black community that result from this aggressive targeting. They also learn about the history of these particular marketing practices and the positive steps being taken to address them.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wNYE8nkCII&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=truthorange[/embed]

Although smoking rates among African Americans are on average lower than national levels, they disproportionately suffer from chronic, preventable diseases caused by smoking.[1]Decades of research have highlighted the impact of the industry's aggressive marketing campaigns to African Americans, particularly for menthol tobacco products and cheap cigarillos.[2]This particular targeting is reflected today in the figures: 90% of African-American smokers aged 12 and over consume menthol tobacco products.[3], known to make it easier to start smoking and more difficult to quit[4]This targeted marketing includes massive advertising of tobacco products in predominantly black neighborhoods, in magazines[5] popular with the African-American community, through support for events such as jazz and hip-hop festivals[6] or through financial contributions to African-American groups and political leaders[7]Menthol has been repeatedly exempted from flavored tobacco legislation, with the tobacco industry successfully lobbying black leaders and politicians it funds to block the process.

The organization Truth Initiative has long called for a complete nationwide ban on all menthol tobacco products - something 117 US jurisdictions already apply. – This new campaign is part of their continued efforts to achieve this.

Keywords: Marketing, Tobacco Industry, Menthol

©Generation Without Tobacco

---

[1] Henley SJ, Thomas CC, Sharapova SR, et al. Vital Signs: Disparities in Tobacco-Related Cancer Incidence and Mortality - United States, 2004-2013. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2016;65(44):1212-1218. [2] Cantrell, J, et al., “Marketing Little Cigars and Cigarillos: Advertising, Price, and Associations with Neighborhood Demographics,” American Journal of Public Health, published online ahead of print August 15, 2013. [3] Giovino GA, Villanti AC, Mowery PD, et al Differential trends in cigarette smoking in the USA: is menthol slowing progress? Tobacco Control 2015;24:28-37. [4] Ahijevych K, Garrett BE. The role of menthol in cigarettes as a reinforcer of smoking behavior. Nicotine Tob Res. 2010;12 Suppl 2:S110-116. [5] Landrine, H, et al., “Cigarette advertising in Black, Latino and White magazines, 1998-2002: An exploratory investigation,” Ethnic Disparities 15(1):63-7, 2005. [6] Hafez, N. & Ling, PM “Finding the Kool Mixx: how Brown & Williamson used music marketing to sell cigarettes,” Tobacco Control 15: 359-366, 2006. [7] Kirchner TR, Villanti AC, Cantrell J, et al Tobacco retail outlet advertising practices and proximity to schools, parks and public housing affect Synar underage sales violations in Washington, DC Tobacco Control 2015;24:e52-e58. National Committee Against Smoking |