Nevada chosen for anti-smoking campaign

Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999 | 9:11 a.m.

The ads will also run in Colorado, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Michigan and in several individual cities including Washington, D.C., and Rochester, N.Y.

The $5 million advertising campaign, which will include radio, print and outdoor advertising, targets retailers and clerks in stores that sell cigarettes.

The campaign is built around the theme that tobacco products shouldn't be sold to minors "for a reason."

A newspaper ad poses the question: "What would make you madder: A retailer selling cigarettes to a kid who's: a) 9; b) 14; or c) Yours?"

A radio advertisement will have a mock game show in which the host announces that one of every three smokers will die from the habit and then chooses one of his three young contestants.

Along with the advertisements the FDA also announced the "Retailer Rewards" program, which will begin in the same five states. This program provides incentives such as tickets to sporting events, concerts, or amusement parks donated by participating radio stations. The awards will go to retailers who refuse to sell to minors who participate in unannounced inspections.

Retailers that fail the inspections can be subject to warnings and fines.

According to the 1997 Nevada Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 69 percent of high school students have tried smoking cigarettes and 15 percent report regular or daily smoking. Forty-one percent of the students who bought cigarettes in a store were not asked to show proof of age. Two-thirds of those students were under 18.