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truth® Wraps up 9th Annual Summer Tour
10/27/2008
Program Continues to Reach Teens Across the Country with Important Health Messages
Washington, D.C. – truth®, the largest national youth smoking prevention campaign for teens, concluded its 2008 truth® Orange summer tour across the nation this past September. The tour traveled more than 45,000 miles and directly reached more than 98,000 teens with information about the marketing tactics of the tobacco industry, the truth about addiction, and the health effects and social consequences of smoking.
The 2008 tour marked the ninth consecutive year truth® has been on the road talking with teens about tobacco at venues and events that appeal to teenagers. This year, two crews and their signature orange “truth® trucks” made more than 60 stops across 30 states, as they traveled to some of the season’s hottest teen-oriented events.
One crew spent the summer traveling with the Vans Warped Tour®, an annual summer rock festival featuring upcoming bands as well as more well-known rock acts like Against Me!, Between the Trees, and We the Kings. Another truth® crew appeared at different venues including Tony Hawk's Boom Boom HuckJam, The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival, Jubilee!JAM in Jackson, Mississippi, and ROCK THE BELLS 2008.
At each tour stop, crew members engaged in peer-to-peer interaction with teens attending the concerts and events; held fashion shows, dance contests, freestyle rap “battles”, and DJ lessons; and gave out items like tee shirts, bags, and bandanas. Each item of the truth® “gear” subtly reinforced facts about tobacco and incorporated cool graphics and designs, creating sought after items that teens were proud to wear. More than 57,000 pieces of truth® gear were distributed to teens at stops across the country.
The interaction did not end at the tour stops, but continued online at thetruth.com where youth could read blogs written by crew members, see photos of other stops, and enter contests. truth® amassed more than 36,000 e-mail addresses while on the road this year, continuing the trend of teens actively keeping in touch with the brand.
Crew members also conducted interviews with television, print and radio media across the country. Morning television shows in markets across the country featured the truth® “truck” or crew, including appearances in San Antonio, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; Miami, Florida; Buffalo, New York; St. Louis, Missouri; San Diego, California; and Spokane, Washington.
“Because the tobacco industry spends in one day what we spend all year on marketing, we have to find ways to make sure we effectively engage youth and empower them with the facts they need to make informed decisions about tobacco use,” remarked Cheryl G. Healton Dr. P.H., President and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation®. “The truth® tour allows us to make strong personal connections and interact with teens on a peer-to-peer level. That positive association carries over in all of teens’ other interactions with the campaign throughout the year, whether on our Web site or social networking profiles, in traditional advertising or integrated into the television shows they watch.”
This summer, the gear from the truth® tour was integrated into two television shows popular with teens. Alison Becker wore one of the t-shirts when she hosted VH1’s Top 20 countdown on July 26th. Alison is well known for her sketch comedy on Human Giant, Late Night With Conan O'Brien, and The Colbert
Report. Steven Smith, the host of Steven’s Untitled Rock Show also wore truth® t-shirts during two shows in July and two shows in August as part of fuse network’s Warped Wednesdays.
Next summer marks the tenth anniversary of the truth® tour, Studies show that nearly 80% of current adult smokers began smoking before they turned 18 years old. Given that one in three smokers will eventually die from a tobacco-related illness, truth® will continue to seek venues and events that attract 12 to 17 year olds, where the campaign’s important messages can be shared with and among teens.
Research has found that the truth® campaign has accelerated the decline in youth smoking rates. According to a study published in the March 2005 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, the truth® campaign accelerated the decline in youth smoking rates between 2000 - 2002. Twenty-two percent of the overall decline in youth smoking during these years is attributable directly to the truth® campaign. The study, the first to evaluate the behavioral outcomes of the truth® campaign, found that in 2002 there were approximately 300,000 fewer youth smokers as a result of truth®.
ABOUT truth®
truth®, launched in February 2000, is the largest national youth smoking prevention campaign and the only national campaign not directed by the tobacco industry. The campaign exposes the tactics of the tobacco industry, the truth about addiction, and the health effects and social consequences of smoking. truth® allows teens to make informed choices about tobacco use by giving them the facts about the industry and its products.
The American Legacy Foundation® is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The foundation’s programs include truth®, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth smoking; EX®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use; and a nationally-renowned program of outreach to priority populations. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit http://www.americanlegacy.org/.
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Contact: Patricia McLaughlin, 202-454-5560, pmclaughlin@americanlegacy.org