The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids released a report about the tobacco industry’s long history of marketing cigarettes and tobacco products to women and girls.
WASHINGTON — According to a press release, the influential Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids released a report about the role the tobacco industry played in marketing their deadly products to women and girls over the past several decades.
“The report documents the industry’s aggressive, century-long targeting of women and girls, utilizing themes of beauty, fashion, freedom and sophistication – and often playing into sexist tropes – while ignoring or downplaying the serious health risks of tobacco use,” indicates the press release. “The report demonstrates that strong action is needed now to protect women’s health and save lives, and it offers proven solutions to prevent young girls from starting to smoke or vape and help all women quit using tobacco.”
Examples cited in the report include several samples of cigarette company-backed advertising depicting affluent women smoking and enjoying life.
More contemporary examples of the marketing the report cites include citations to Juul Labs and its very cringe-worthy “Vaporized” campaign that featured Instagram influencers posing with early-generation Juul devices.
This is especially the case for women who appear in these ads, cites the report’s authors.
The report – entitled A Lifetime of Damage: How Big Tobacco’s Predatory Marketing Harms the Health of Women and Girls – was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, Black Women’s Health Imperative, National Partnership for Women & Families, and National Women’s Law Center, according to the press release.
“The statistics are startling,” said Tammy Boyd in a statement to CBS 46 in Atlanta.
Boyd is the chief policy officer and senior counsel for the Black Women’s Health Imperative – a collaborating group on the report.
“We’re calling on policy makers at all levels to take strong action to prevent girls from ever starting to smoke or vape and help all women quit tobacco,” Boyd added.
“Tobacco use can lead to nicotine addiction for young girls, impact a woman’s ability to become pregnant, and cause serious pregnancy complications,” notes the groups.
