DES MOINES – A series of television ads launched nationwide Sunday night depicting celebrities pictured smoking cigarettes as “unpaid tobacco” spokespeople, is part of an aggressive nationwide campaign launched by a national organization that aims to curb youth and adult tobacco use.
The ads, which aired on Sunday night’s MTV’s Video Music Awards, include celebrities Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Chris Brown, among others.
The non-profit Legacy, whose Board of Directors includes Attorney General Tom Miller, bought the ads as part of a renewed national youth smoking prevention campaign called “truth.”
“With social media, teens and young adults from here in Iowa have the potential to influence others just as much as a Hollywood celebrity,” Miller said. “This bold and edgy campaign tries to harness their creativity and power to help us end smoking for good.”
The television, website and social media campaign targets 15-21-year-olds.
“We want to remind everyone – not just celebrities – that ending the tobacco epidemic and saving nearly half a million American lives annually is not only possible, but it’s likely if this movement succeeds,” Miller added.
Survey: Youth Smoking Declining
Last year, Monitoring the Future, an ongoing nationwide study of the behaviors, attitudes, and values of secondary school students, college students, and young adults, reported in its annual survey that youth smoking rates across the country have dropped below ten percent, the lowest levels in more than two decades.
According to the Iowa Department of Public Health’s Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control, the 2012 Iowa Youth Survey found that 12 percent of Iowa’s 11th graders reported using cigarettes.
“We think youth tobacco usage in Iowa and nationally is moving in the right direction, but we’d like to see the numbers go even lower,” Miller said. “We’d like to see the day when teens and adults reject tobacco use altogether.”
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