Janice Milliman, Quit Coach, Service Delivery:   What do cereal and tobacco manufacturers have in common? Walking down the grocery store cereal aisle can be a challenge, especially with kids in tow. Brightly colored cereal boxes with toys and other freebies grab their attention. Cereal manufacturers developed creative and effective ways of marketing toward their most important audience: kids. Unfortunately, tobacco manufacturers are using some of the same tactics to lure kids into... [More]

Ken Wassum, Senior Product Manager, Tobacco:   In a move that one cannot help but suspect is strategically calculated, Big Tobacco has filed suit against the FDA for restricting their First Amendment rights of free speech. The Congress passed legislation this last summer that gives the FDA the ability to regulate tobacco products, including how the industry advertises (Title II; Section 201; Sections a & b) their products. Given the track record of the tobacco industry of putting profit... [More]

Ken Wassum, Senior Product Manager:   Here in India at the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is center stage.  The WHO FCTC is a treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization. Since being adopted on February 27, 2005 it has since become one of the most widely embraced treaties in UN history and, as of today, has already 163 Parties. While the US is a party to the treaty we are not bound by it.  Why?  Bec... [More]

Ken Wassum, Senior Product Manager:   As a kid I used to sit on the floor beside my father’s easy chair when his best friend, Bill, visited from out of state.  Bill was a cigar smoker and I loved the smell of cigars. When stationed beside the chair I was in position to savor the aroma of these stogies.  The big surprise came the day when Bill leaned over the chair and let go a spit of tobacco juice into a coffee can narrowly missing my head….. I hadn’t been expecting that! New smo... [More]

Sharen Ross, Vice President, Marketing:   A new anti-smoking website was launched earlier this week targeting girls between the ages of 8-11. It made me think about my experiences with smoking at that age and ponder how effective a website like this would have been for me. When I was 8 years old cigarettes were still being advertised and shamelessly glamorized by celebrities. My favorite Uncle smoked about a pack a day and would routinely send me to the corner store with a note an... [More]

Erin Thompson, Marketing Manager:   As October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month came to a close, antismoking groups registered their protests at Philip Morris USA’s plan to launch the new pink “purse packs” of Virginia Slim “Super Slim” cigarettes. Part of the outrage, according to protestors, is the timing of Philip Morris's announcement. Pink abounds in October in support and memory of those who have battled breast cancer.  It's insulting that anyone--even Big Tobacco--would thin... [More]

Ken Wassum, Senior Product Manager:   In 1994 the tobacco industry stated, “…neither cigarette smoking nor the nicotine delivered in cigarettes is addictive.” In order to confuse the issue of the dangers to health from cigarette smoking, they planned to “..defend [itself] on three major fronts, litigation, politics, and public opinion…creating doubt about the health charge without actually denying it.” (F.Panzer to H. Kornegay [Trial Exhibit 20,987]). Of course, all along they knew nico... [More]

Sharen Ross, Vice President, Marketing:   Think back to a time when you made a major life-changing decision. Perhaps you decided to go back to school to finish a degree. Maybe you decided to lose weight, start jogging, become a vegetarian or quit drinking. Now think about what led you to that decision. Was it the result of an ad campaign? Probably not. Most likely it was a personal decision based on personal reasons. Quitting smoking is no different. Despite a deluge of graphic pu... [More]

Nari Benson, Recruitment Manager, Marketing   On August 3, the New York Times posted a story in which Katherine Dozier, 24, said she started smoking regularly about a year ago, when a Hollywood club passed out Camel No. 9 menthols as a promotion. She was struck by the 'cute' black-and-turquoise box with a pink camel. Ever since Susan G Komen started the pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer awareness it seems that marketers have realized all you need to do is make something pink ... [More]

Andy Roberts, Senior Manager, Call Quality and Satisfaction:   Jon Lovett manages a tobacco shop in Hutchinson, Kansas and his current advertising campaign is drawing some media attention. The billboard outside his store reads: SMOKING REALLY IS COOL. He says that business is up. Some residents say there’s nothing cool about smoking and Mr. Lovett is irresponsible to advertise it as such. Others say he’s simply expressing his 1st Amendment right to free speech. I say kudos to ... [More]