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FTC report shows $9.5 billion spent on tobacco marketing

The Federal Trade Commission’s latest report on tobacco marketing shows the industry spent nearly $9.5 billion in 2013 to promote its poisonous products in the U.S. While cigarette marketing was down slightly from $9.17 billion in 2012 to $8.95 billion in 2013, spending on smokeless tobacco rose over 15 percent to $503.2 million, the second highest annual total ever.
 
Cigarette advertising in magazines jumped 81 percent from 2012 to 2013 to over $50 million, due largely to R.J. Reynolds’ return to the medium after a 5-year absence. Tobacco ads are often placed in magazines that have a large readership among young people.
 
While spending on cigarette price discounts was down slightly at $7.6 billion in 2013 compared to $7.8 billion in 2012, the industry still spends over 85 percent of its marketing dollars on promotions that reduce the cost of cigarettes. The discounted prices make cigarettes more attractive to young people. The 2012 Surgeon General’s report, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults, concluded that “the industry’s extensive use of price-reducing promotions has led to higher rates of tobacco use among young people than would have occurred in the absence of these promotions.” The same report showed that scientific evidence “consistently and coherently points to the intentional marketing of tobacco products to youth as being a cause of young people’s tobacco use.”
 
The FTC report doesn’t include marketing on e-cigarettes, since they’re not classified as tobacco products. A recent CDC report based on data from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that nearly 7 in 10 middle and high school students – more than 18 million young people – are exposed to e-cigarette advertising.
 
Tobacco companies need replacement customers, and that means targeting kids. More than 80 percent of adult smokers started before age 18. With tobacco companies spending billions of dollars to entice young people to use their products, comprehensive tobacco prevention problems are essential to counter the industry’s tactics and keep the next generation tobacco-free.




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