In December 2006, the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) published an article entitled
"The effect of televised, tobacco-company funded smoking prevention advertising on youth smoking-related beliefs, intentions and behavior." The article concluded that "tobacco company parent-targeted advertising may have harmful effects on youth."
1For numerous reasons, we believe this study is both flawed and erroneous. While the authors of the study are correct to draw attention to the effect of parent-focused ads on youth smoking outcomes, consultation between the authors and the ad sponsor, Philip Morris USA, could have improved the research. We expressed our serious concerns about this study in a
letter to the editor of the AJPH, but unfortunately, the journal declined to publish our letter.
We have aired more than 25 commercials and published more than 25 print ads to support this campaign. Today, there are more organizations conducting parent-directed campaigns that employ a variety of media. For example, a number of state departments of health, including Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, Nebraska and New York, are running or have recently run parent-directed communications campaigns. In addition, the Office of National Drug Control policy continues to run their "Parents. The Anti Drug" campaign.
While we intend to continue providing youth smoking prevention
parent resources including brochures, tip sheets and the online Parent Resource Center, we have decided not to resume our
Talk. They’ll Listen. youth smoking prevention television and radio advertising campaign for the foreseeable future. We believe our campaign has made a meaningful difference in helping parents understand their influence and encouraging them to talk to their kids about not smoking.
