A physician's viewpoint on cigarette advertising

Can Cigarette Ads be directed to an 18-22 year old age group without appealing to our nation's youth?

• There is no magic divide separating the motivational interests of a teenager from an 18-22 year old.  Teenagers aspire to be young adults, so there is an inherent crossover effect in advertising directed to this segment of the population. 

• Teenage males can be influenced by advertisements associating smoking with sexual attraction in the same manner as a young adult male.  Messages of establishing independence from authority and projecting a virile masculine image can have a general appeal to the males of this age.  Similarly, associating cigarette smoking with a slender, independent, successful woman has a positive appeal to both teenage girls and young women.

• For the tobacco industry, recruiting smokers is the most effective strategy for the spread of cigarette smoking.    Allowing tobacco advertising targeted towards young adults will guarantee that an effective pro-smoking message will reach our teenagers

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