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Putting Their Money Where Your Mouth Is
Wave goodbye to your teary parents in their now-empty station wagon. Settle into your dorm, eye your roommate for early quirky behavior, scope out the pizza in the nearest dining hall and…pick up a cigarette? College throws a lot of variables at students right away and the pressure to smoke is one of them, states a new report by the American Lung Association.
Only one in five college kids currently smoke (the lowest stat ever!), the report claims, but that doesn’t stop tobacco companies from trying to persuade them. Young adults in the middle of big life changes are perfect to target as they try to carve out niches in new environments. The tobacco industry spent more than $1 million a day in 2005 to promote only to colleges! Campaigns at bars and clubs also aim to convert new smokers.
“Every college student in America has a target on their back as far as the tobacco industry is concerned,” says Bernadette A. Toomey, president and CEO of the American Lung Association.
New collegians, can you feel the bull’s-eye on you or has smoking become so ‘90s? Would an ad make you try it, even just once? [BusinessWeek]
Why are tobacco comapnies and credit card companies allowed to market to this age group? THis is so messed up. So they get you addicted to cigarettes and have major health complications later in life, then they make you get a credit card so you can afford your habit and health insurance on top of everything else you can't afford. Schools with any legitimacy should be telling these tobacco companies to get something better to do.
I don't think college kids are influenced by smoking ads. I'm not exactly sure why they smoke but I know a lot of kids smoke at my school and it's annoying! I hate walking to class behind someone who is obnoxiously smoking and I can't avoid their puff cloud. AH!