1. Curtis Palmer
39/350 Soi Nichada Thani,
Pakkret, Nonthaburi, 11120
Thailand
16 September, 2011
Committee on Health, Education,Labor and Pensions
428 Senate Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Members of the US Senate Committee on Health:
The purpose of this letter is to show the harm that advertising tobacco has on our
population and to express the necessity of passing a law that will ban advertising of all
tobacco products in the US. Your senate committee has the considerable power to
recommend a tobacco advertising ban, therefore positively affecting the health of
millions of potential smokers.Much research has been conductedlinking the influence of
advertising and tobacco usage.
Jean Kilbourne, Ed. D, aninternationally recognized expert on advertising, and author of
Can’t Buy My Love, summarizes the research conducted on tobacco: “cigarettes kill more
Americans each year than alcohol, cocaine, heroin, fires, car crashes, homicide, suicides,
and AIDS combined. Indeed, smoking is the single largest preventable cause of death in
America.”With such overwhelming evidence, a clear-cut solution is mandated. This
solution is the banning of tobacco advertising, which would have an almost immediate
impact on tobacco sales and the health of Americans. The largest preventable cause of
death can be easily avoided if the US Senate Committee recommends a ban of cigarette
advertising.
Kilbourne’s stance is to provide evidence and information of the extent and power of
advertising promoting and glamorizing nicotine addiction. In 1999, she stated, “3000
children need to start smoking everyday simply to replace those smokers who die or quit
in the United States alone.” These statistics are overwhelming and cannot be ignored. The
tobacco industry, just like any other industry, has profit at its core. Unfortunately, in the
case of tobacco, the key demographic in terms of maintaining a steady customer base is
children. If adolescents are not exposed to the advertising at such an impressionable
time in their lives, then the likelihood of smoking decreasesas they get older. According
to Kilbourne, the tobacco industry conducted research to understand the psychology of
teenage smokers’ need to rebel and have autonomy from their parents. The tobacco
companies are exploiting teenager’s emotional need for independence and power and
offer to fill that need with a deadly and addictive product. Politicians such as yourselves
have the potential to terminatethe negative influence, not only on the youth, but the
general American public too.
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2. Kilbourne states that cigarettes have been marketed as “macho, sexy and healthy”;
although, this image is radically opposed to what science suggests is the reality for a
smoker. By the timeteenagers grow up and mature, they realize the dangers of smoking.
This, of course, is why the tobacco industry has to strike early. However, the
pharmacological effect has already taken place: the smoker is addicted. This image
promoted by cigarette advertising firms is morally wrong and is contributing to the death
of thousands every year.
The power of advertising is clearly evident when considering facts such asthe number of
Korean female teenaged smokers has increased from less than 2 percent to almost 9
percent since American companies started advertising campaigns in Korea. In the United
States, Camels, Marlboros and Newports are the three most heavily advertised brands,
and almost 90 percent of teenagers choose these brands. Any given tobacco
companywould have us believe that their advertising money is spent trying toconvince
current smokers to switch brands. Clearly, their advertising agenda is different: to recruit
new smokers.By 1999, approximately 30 countries had banned any tobacco advertising
or sponsorship. The positive effects of theseare backed up by the American Cancer
Society, which shows that when advertising is curtailed or prohibited, tobacco
consumption declines significantly.
This letter implores you, the US Senate Committee on Health, to support in law, a total
ban on the advertising of tobacco. Cigarettes are a leading cause of death, and teenagers
are targetedbecause 3000 new customers are needed per day.Smoking is detrimental to
health; there is no argument that suggests otherwise from health professionals. Research
has proven how successful advertising is in influencing smoking and brand choice, and
when countries have banned the promotion of tobacco through advertising, the rate of
usage has declined significantly. I implore your committee to give serious consideration
to the total ban of tobacco advertising in order to promote and support positive change in
the health of our citizens.
Sincerely,
Curtis T.W. Palmer
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