Teens Say They Won’t Be “Fuuled” by the Company’s Latest Bait and Switch Tactics
GOSHEN, N.Y. (May 21, 2019) – Representing Orange County, students from John S. Burke Catholic High School joined 120 other teen leaders from across New York State this week at a demonstration against big tobacco. The demonstration took place in Richmond, Virginia in close proximity to the headquarters of Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris.
The demonstration on May 16 marked the fifth consecutive year teens from Reality Check of New York made their voices heard outside the Richmond Convention Center. The teens were protesting Altria Group’s $12.8 billion investment in the e-cigarette company Juul Labs and subsequent marketing of the dangerous product to young people.
“Altria blamed nicotine pods and fruity flavors for fueling a surge in teen vaping,” said Carissa Mazzeo, Manager of the Reality Check program of POW’R Against Tobacco, a program of the American Lung Association. “We know that teens cite flavors as a primary reason they use tobacco products. But if Altria claims they are not targeting youth, then why did they invest in Juul, the company that made these types of e-cigarettes so popular?”
Burke Catholic students Alyssa Smith and Chris Zacatelco and 2018 graduate Audrey Smith made their voices heard in Virginia.
“Despite what they say, Altria spends billions marketing their deadly products right in front of us, first cigarettes and now Juul” said Alyssa Smith, a sophomore at John S. Burke Catholic High School and member of the Reality Check group for the past year. “Their goal is to create a new generation of customers—just in a different product. Enough is enough, already!”
In New York State, the average age of a new smoker is just 13 years old, and 98 percent of smokers start before the age of 21. Studies show that children who shop in stores with tobacco marketing, such as gas stations and convenience stores, are 64 percent more likely to start smoking than their friends who don’t.
Many teens were dressed in waders and carried fishing poles with a fresh catch of Juul nicotine pods and Marlboro cigarettes hanging from them. They say they want Altria executives, as well as the entire tobacco industry, to know that they won’t be “Fuuled” by big tobacco’s investment in Juul and will continue to raise awareness in their communities back home.
Some teens took their message right to the biggest fish – the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Altria Group, Howard Willard. Eight Reality Check teens and two youth leaders had shareholder proxy tickets and seized the opportunity to address corporate tobacco executives directly and ask questions.
Altria’s investment will allow Juul products to be displayed alongside regular cigarettes in the nation’s retail outlets, a combination that undercuts earlier promises Altria made with former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb to clamp down on the youth vaping “epidemic.”
Public health officials and youth leaders for Reality Check, who have successfully fought to eliminate youth-attracting marketing tactics like colorful packaging and candy flavors in cigarettes through the years, see this as their next big battle to reduce teen tobacco use.
Reeling in more information:
Findings on youth tobacco use and tobacco industry marketing in places where children and young adolescents can see it indicate:
- -The average age of a new smoker in New York is 13 years old, and 90 percent of adult smokers say they first tried smoking by age 18.
- -The U.S. tobacco industry spent an estimated $9.5 billion on advertising and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in 2013. This includes nearly $220 million annually in New York State, or nearly $602,000 a day.
- -Stores popular among adolescents contain almost three times more tobacco marketing materials compared to other stores in the same community.
In preparation for the demonstration, the Reality Check youth spent last Wednesday learning about tobacco control policies, how the tobacco industry contracts with retailers and how they can stand up, speak out and make a difference in the fight against big tobacco.
Reality Check is a teen-led, adult-run program that seeks to prevent and decrease tobacco use among young people throughout New York State. For more information about Reality Check, visit realitycheckofny.org.
To learn more about John S. Burke Catholic High School, visit www.BurkeCatholic.com.
