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Woman in graphic anti-smoking ad dies from cancer

Associated Press – CBS News
A North Carolina woman featured prominently in a graphic government ad campaign to get people to stop smoking died Monday of cancer.
Terrie Hall died at a hospital in Winston-Salem, N.C., federal officials said. She was 53.
“She was a public health hero,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducted the campaign. “She may well have saved more lives than most doctors do.”
A former smoker whose voice box was removed years ago, Hall took a leading role in the campaign that showed how smoking-related cancer ravages the body. Officials believe the “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign led as many as 100,000 Americans smokers to quit.
Hall’s oral and throat cancer was caused by the cigarette smoking she began in high school, CDC officials said. This summer, the cancer spread to her brain.
Hall’s first ad showed her putting on a wig, putting in false teeth and covering a hole in her throat with a scarf. It was the campaign’s most popular spot by far, receiving more than 2.8 million views on YouTube.
It was the federal public health agency’s largest and starkest anti-smoking push, and its first national advertising effort.
In another ad, the Lexington resident addressed the camera in the buzzing sound of her artificial voice box. She advised smokers to make a video of themselves reading a children’s book or singing a lullaby. “I wish I had. The only voice my grandson’s ever heard is this one,” her electric voice growled.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57603199/woman-in-graphic-anti-smoking-ad-dies-from-cancer/

Graphic anti-smoking ads helped 100,000 kick the habit for good, CDC says

Maggie Fox,  NBC News
A graphic, deliberately shocking, anti-tobacco campaign starring former smokers — including a woman who lost her voice box to throat cancer — helped 100,00 Americans kick the habit permanently, government researchers say.
And an estimated 1.6 million people at least tried to quit smoking after seeing the first national mass ­media anti-smoking initiative to be funded by the U.S. government, according to researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The series of ads, called “Tips,” featured images of an 18-year-old wearing an oxygen mask in the hospital after suffering an asthma attack caused by secondhand smoke; a 57-year-old Army veteran with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who tearfully declares “I’m running out of time,”; and a heart attack victim showing a gruesome scar from his surgery.
One of the most striking ads featured Terrie Hall, a 52-year-old North Carolina woman who suffered throat cancer caused by smoking. “The only voice my grandson has ever heard is this one,” the well-groomed blonde woman croaks in one video.
“People would come up to her in the grocery store or drug store in other towns and ask ‘if you are the woman on the ad — you inspired me to quit smoking – thank you so much’,” said Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, who directed the study.
The 2012 three-month campaign reached nearly 80 percent of US smokers, the CDC team says in a report published Monday in the Lancet medical journal.
“The Tips campaign seems to have resulted in millions of non-­smokers talking to smokers about quitting and getting help,” the CDC researchers wrote.
To figure this out, the CDC team sent questionnaires to 3,051 smokers and 2,220 non-smokers completed baseline and follow-up assessments. They found that 78 percent of the smokers and 74 percent of the non-smokers recalled having seen at least one Tips advertisement on television during the three-month campaign.
Before the campaign started, 31 percent of smokers said they had tried to quit for at least one day in the previous three months. This went up to nearly 35 percent after the campaign. And 13 percent said they succeeded.
The differences may look small percentage wise, but when multiplied over the whole U.S. population, they added up. Twenty percent of U.S. adults smoke.
“We found over a million and half smokers made quit attempts because of the campaign,” McAfee told NBC News. “This study shows that we save a year of life for less than $200. That makes it one of the most cost-effective prevention efforts,” McAfee added.
The CDC says half of all smokers try to quit every year, but only 5 percent succeed. Drugs, acupuncture, counseling and nicotine replacement therapies are all available to help, but nothing works perfectly. Over the weekend, researchers reported that e-cigarettes work about as well as nicotine patches to help people quit.
“This is exciting news. Quitting can be hard and I congratulate and celebrate with former smokers – this is the most important step you can take to a longer, healthier life,” said Director Dr. Tom Frieden. “I encourage anyone who tried to quit to keep trying – it may take several attempts to succeed.’’
The CDC says its $54 million campaign, paid for out of the 2010 health reform law, counters the $8 billion the tobacco industry spends on advertising and promotions.
“Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, causing nearly 5 million deaths annually,” the CDC team wrote. “For individuals, smoking shortens life expectancy by more than 10 years, whereas adults who quit before age 45 years regain almost a decade in life expectancy.”
CDC says cigarettes kill 440,000 Americans a year, and tobacco use costs $96 billion in direct medical costs and $97 billion in lost productivity.
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/graphic-anti-smoking-ads-helped-100-000-kick-habit-good-8C11111432

CDC’s Anti-Smoking Ad Campaign Spurred Over 100,000 Smokers to Quit; Media Campaigns Must be Expanded Nationally and in the States

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:    September 9, 2013
Statement of Susan M. Liss
Executive Director, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
WASHINGTON, DC – Year one of the federal government’s “Tips from Former Smokers” national advertising campaign exceeded all expectations, driving 1.6 million smokers to try to quit and helping more than 100,000 to succeed, according to a study published today in the medical journal The Lancet.  The 2012 campaign, conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also inspired millions of nonsmokers to encourage friends and family members to quit smoking.  Researchers estimated that, by quitting, former smokers added more than a third of a million years of life to the U.S. population.  The Tips campaign was the first ever federally-funded national media campaign aimed at reducing smoking.
This study provides powerful, real-world evidence that media campaigns work, they reduce smoking and they save lives.  They are also cost-effective investments that can help reduce tobacco-related health care costs, which total $96 billion a year in the United States.
The CDC’s campaign was highly successful despite lasting only three months and costing only $54 million – less than 0.7 percent of the $8.8 billion the tobacco industry spends annually to market its deadly and addictive products.  To win the fight against tobacco, we need more media campaigns like this, both nationally and in the states.  Fortunately, the CDC recognizes this and conducted a second round of its campaign earlier this year.  Similar national campaigns must be continued and expanded in the future.
It is also critical that the states increase funding for media campaigns as part of a comprehensive program to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit.  The states collect nearly $26 billion a year in revenue from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but spend less than two percent of it – $459.5 million in fiscal year 2013 – on programs to reduce tobacco use, including media campaigns.  They have cut funding for such programs by 36 percent in recent years.
To counter the marketing barrage of the tobacco industry and accelerate smoking declines in the U.S., both the federal government and the states must increase and sustain their commitment to fighting tobacco use, including with media campaigns.  Campaigns to reduce smoking must be as aggressive and year-round as the tobacco industry’s promotion of its deadly products.
The success of the CDC’s media campaign also illustrates the value of the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which was created by the health care reform law and provided funding for the campaign.  It underscores the public health fund’s enormous potential to improve health and reduce health care costs in the U.S.
The new study adds to the already substantial scientific evidence that mass media campaigns prevent children from smoking and help smokers quit, saving lives and health care dollars. Public health authorities including the Surgeon General, the National Cancer Institute, the Institute of Medicine and the CDC have all examined the evidence and concluded that these campaigns work.
States that have conducted extensive media campaigns as part of their tobacco prevention programs – including California, Florida, New York and Washington – have reduced smoking rates faster and to lower levels than the nation as a whole.  Florida recently reported that its high school smoking rate fell to 8.6 percent in 2013, far below most states and the entire nation (the national rate was 15.8 percent in the most recent equivalent national survey, conducted in 2011).  If every state reduced youth smoking to the same low rate as Florida, there would be 1.6 million fewer youth smokers in the U.S.
Research indicates the most effective anti-smoking media campaigns evoke strong emotions and realistically depict the terrible health consequences of tobacco use – just as the CDC ads do.  We applaud the CDC for its strong leadership in the fight against tobacco use.  We also thank the courageous former smokers who shared their heartbreaking health struggles with the entire country, telling the harsh truth about how devastating and unglamorous cigarette smoking truly is.
While the U.S. has made enormous progress in reducing smoking, tobacco use remains the nation’s number one cause of preventable death, killing more than 400,000 Americans every year.  Media campaigns are an essential tool in winning the fight against the tobacco epidemic.
Smokers can get help in quitting by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visiting www.smokefree.gov.

9 Terribly Disturbing Things About Electronic Cigarettes

By now, you’ve probably seen them being smoked on the subway or in a bar — those shiny, futuristic, battery-operated nicotine inhalers better know as electronic cigarettes that are apparently all the rage these days. Big Tobacco companies have taken notice, too, and are determined to cash in on the industry, which is expected to bring in $1.7 billion in U.S. sales this year alone, according to The New York Times.
While much is still unknown about the health risks of e-cigarettes, here’s what we do know: E-cigarettes are addicting. And while they may not be as harmful as tobacco cigarettes, critics like the British Medical Association and the World Health Organisation are wary of the trend and warn of the dangers that may be associated with the smoking devices.
Here’s what we do know about e-cigarettes:
1. E-cigarettes contain toxic chemicals.
A 2009 FDA analysis of e-cigarettes from two leading brands found that the samples contained carcinogens and other hazardous chemicals, including diethylene glycol, which is found in antifreeze. Last year, a report from Greek researchers found that using e-cigarettes increased breathing difficulty in both smokers and non-smokers, according to Medical News Today.
2. Kids and teens can buy them.
Unlike other tobacco products, e-cigarettes can be sold to minors in many places throughout the country. The smoking devices can also be bought legally online, according to the Wall Street Journal.
3. While cigarette companies say they don’t market to kids, e-cigarettes come in flavors like cherry, strawberry, vanilla and cookies and cream milkshake.
4. Laws regulating cigarette ads don’t yet apply to e-cigarettes.
TV commercials for cigarettes may be banned, but ones for e-cigarettes sure aren’t, Adage points out. (The above ad for Blu eCigs features Jenny McCarthy.)
5. And e-cigarette companies are spending a TON on advertising.
Industry advertising spending increased to $20.8 million in 2012 from just $2.7 million in 2010, according to The New York Times.
6. E-cigarettes can be used in many places where smoking is banned.
Even though some studies suggest that secondhand vapor poses health risks, many lawmakers have yet to determine whether smoking rules apply to e-cigarettes, according to USA Today.
7. People think e-cigarettes can help them quit smoking.
Research published in the American Journal of Public Health indicates that 53 percent of young adults in the U.S. who have heard of e-cigarettes believe they are healthier than traditional cigarettes and 45 percent believe they could help them quit smoking — though there is little evidence to support either of these claims.
8. E-cigarettes aren’t taxed like traditional tobacco products.
Even though cigarette consumption fell significantly as taxes went up.
9. Despite unknown health consequences, e-cigarettes are poised to make inroads with a new generation of young people.
Half of young adults say they would try e-cigarettes if a friend offered them one, according a study cited by USA Today.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/03/electronic-cigarettes_n_3818941.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

Companies spend huge sums on TV ads, sponsorships to boost e-cigarette sales

By: Stuart Elliott
NEW YORK: Electronic cigarettes may be a creation of the early 21st century, but critics of the devices say manufacturers are increasingly borrowing marketing tactics that are more reminiscent of the heady days of tobacco in the mid-1900s.
With US smokers buying e-cigarettes at a record pace – annual sales are expected to reach $1.7 billion by year’s end – e-cigarette makers are opening their wallets wide, spending growing sums on TV commercials with celebrities, catchy slogans and sports sponsorships.
Those tactics can no longer be used to sell tobacco cigarettes, but are readily available to the ecigarette industry because it is not covered by the laws or regulations that affect the tobacco cigarette industry. The e-cigarette industry is also spending lavishly on marketing methods that are also still available to their tobacco brethren, including promotions, events, sample giveaways and print ads.
The Blu eCigs brand, which recently added actress Jenny McCarthy to its roster of star endorsers, joining actor Stephen Dorff, spent $12.4 million on ads in major media for the first quarter of this year compared with $992,000 in the same period a year ago, according to the Kantar Media unit of WPP. And ad spending in a category that Kantar Media calls smoking materials and accessories, which includes products like pipes and lighters in addition to e-cigarettes, has skyrocketed from $2.7 million in 2010 to $7.2 million in 2011 to $20.8 million in 2012.
In the first quarter of 2013, Kantar Media reported, category ad spending soared again, reaching $15.7 million compared with $2 million in the same period a year ago. In fact, that $15.7 million total exceeded the spending for ads in major media for tobacco cigarettes, at $13.9 million, according to Kantar Media.
“It is beyond troubling that e-cigarettes are using the exact same marketing tactics we saw the tobacco industry use in the 50s, 60s and 70s, which made it so effective for tobacco products to reach youth,” said Matthew L Myers, president of an organization in Washington, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, that has fought for decades against aiming cigarette ads at minors.
“The real threat,” he added, “is whether, with this marketing, e-cigarette makers will undo 40 years of efforts to deglamorize smoking.” Makers of e-cigarettes counter that their marketing efforts are legal and intended to reach adults – particularly, they say, adults who smoke tobacco cigarettes.
“Our company is being built on branding,” said Elliot B Maisel, chairman and chief executive at the Fin Branding Group in Atlanta, which last month began running TV commercials for its Fin e-cigarette to accompany other initiatives like print and online ads. The company plans to spend more than $8 million this year to take advantage of “the opportunity to build a great American iconic brand,” he added.
Joana Martins, vice-president for marketing at Fin Branding, described the Fin ads as aimed at “adult smokers, 25 to 44, who are tired of being ostracized” and would be receptive to a pitch that “it’s OK to smoke again.” That is reflected in the campaign theme, “Rewrite the rules.”
There is another reason that e-cigarette makers are appropriating the marketing playbook of tobacco cigarettes beyond the proven effectiveness of tactics like advertising on TV and sponsoring race cars: Giant tobacco companies like Lorillard and Reynolds American, which sell traditional smokes like Newport and Camel, are entering the e-cigarette category alongside smaller, entrepreneurial outfits like Fin Branding. Big Tobacco’s arrival is coming through acquisitions (eg Lorillard bought Blu eCigs in 2012) and startups (eg Reynolds American is introducing an e-cigarette named Vuse).
A selling point in a campaign for Vuse that began this week in Colorado is that it is “designed by tobacco experts” to deliver “a perfect puff every time,” said Stephanie Cordisco, president of the RJ Reynolds Vapor division of Reynolds American in Winston-Salem, NC.

Most U.S. youth exposed to tobacco advertising in stores

ATLANTA, July 31 (UPI) — U.S. researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say a lot of kids continue to see tobacco ads and be influenced by them.
Dr. Shanta Dube, lead health scientist for surveillance in the Epidemiology Branch, Office on Smoking and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues examined the proportion of adolescents exposed to pro-tobacco advertising and assessed the association between this exposure and susceptibility to smoking.
The researchers used data from the 2011 National Youth Tobacco Survey to calculate the proportion of susceptible middle-school and high-school students exposed to pro-tobacco advertisements via stores, magazines and the Internet. Susceptibility to smoking cigarettes was defined as “never smoked but open to trying cigarettes,” Dube said.
In 2011, 81.5 percent of middle-school students and 87 percent of high-school students were exposed to tobacco advertisements in stores; 48 percent of middle-school students and 54 percent of high-school students were exposed to such advertising in magazines.
Exposure to tobacco advertisements on the Internet was similar at about 40 percent for both middle-school and high-school students.
Of those surveyed, 22 percent of middle-school students and 24 percent of high-school students were susceptible to trying cigarettes.
Exposure to magazine advertising declined from 71.8 percent in 2000 to 46 percent in 2009 among susceptible middle-school students; but exposure increased to 55 percent in 2011. Tobacco advertising seen through the Internet among susceptible high-school students increased from 26 percent in 2000 to 45 percent in 2011.
The study was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/07/31/Most-US-youth-exposed-to-tobacco-advertising-in-stores/UPI-26521375321062/#ixzz2ajGPXhMN