American Legacy Foundation - truth campaign

Launched in February 2000, truth® is a national youth smoking prevention campaign from the American Legacy Foundation®, a national public health foundation based in Washington, DC, devoted to tobacco use prevention and cessation. truth® is the only national campaign in the United States not directed by the tobacco industry. The objective of the campaign is to change social norms and reduce youth smoking. Youth aged 12 to 17 years are the primary focus of the campaign. The campaign is produced by the American Legacy Foundation and its advertising partners, Arnold Worldwide (Boston, MA) and Crispin, Porter + Bogusky (Miami, FL).

Background:

About 80 percent of smokers begin using tobacco before the age of 18. Each day, about 2000 kids try smoking for the first time. For many, it becomes an addiction that can lead to a life of disease and tobacco-related death.

truth® directly counters messages from the tobacco company brands, which spent more than US$15.1 billion in 2003 to market their products in the U.S. alone. When the campaign was created, the American Legacy Foundation and its partners realized truth® could never match that level of spending, so instead they aimed to create a campaign that would stay ahead by breaking through with teens and being more “cutting edge.”

Campaign Philosophy:

The truth® campaign exposes the tactics of the tobacco industry, the truth about addiction, and the health effects and social consequences of smoking - allowing teens to make informed choices about tobacco use by giving them the facts about the industry and its products. It is designed to engage teens by exposing Big Tobacco’s marketing and manufacturing practices, as well as highlighting the toll of tobacco in relevant and innovative ways.

The teenage years are a time of transition into adulthood and a quest for control. For some teens, tobacco use can fulfill some of the innate adolescent needs to rebel; truth® seeks to be an alternative way to meet those needs. The campaign stresses peer-to-peer communication, as teens don’t like to be preached at or talked down to.

The campaign uses research with teen audiences, marketing and social science research, and evidence from the most successful anti-tobacco campaigns to inform its strategies.

The truth® campaign also uses actual tobacco industry documents that were made public after the Master Settlement Agreement. The documents are used to find the facts teens see in truth® ads and on the truth® Web site.



Delivering the Program:

truth® is a multi-dimensional campaign involving:
- advertising (television, radio and print)
- a Web site and interactive communications
- grassroots outreach through summer and winter tours
- “gear” – wearable and cool products like t-shirts, I-Pod socks, and other items reflecting the brand and subtly raising attention to the tobacco issue
- Earned media – an extensive media relations program to place related stories in youth media, and raise attention in adult media to the issue and to the campaign’s award-winning work.


truth® ads are known for being “in-your-face”, hard-hitting and even humorous, because teens respond to up-front and powerful messages that display courage and honesty in a forceful way. In addition, teens are involved in testing all truth® advertising concepts and provide suggestions and feedback through the truth® Web site.

The truth® campaign places its ads in the media teens look at, listen to, and read, including on television networks popular with teens like MTV, BET, Comedy Central, and Spike, and in magazines like Vibe and Cosmogirl. truth® also has a prominent presence on the Internet with a highly interactive and relevant-to-teens Web site, www.thetruth.com, that allows teens to engage with truth® on their own terms.

A summer tour travels across the country, allowing teens to engage first-hand with the campaign. State of the art truth® “trucks” rigged with DJ decks, video monitors and gaming systems allow teens to speak and interact firsthand with truth® “crew members” at popular events where teens gather. Each tour stop features impromptu rap sessions, join-in freestyle demos and giveaways of popular truth® “gear” such as hats, flip flops, wallets and t-shirts.

Results:

Research has found that 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, according to research published in the March 2005 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. The study, which was 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®. The study assessed whether there is a “dose-response” relationship between the level of exposure to the campaign and changes in youth smoking rates during the first two years of the campaign, 2000 - 2002. Results showed that youth who were exposed to a greater number of truth® ads - or those who got a “dose” of truth® - were less likely to smoke.

In November 2003, the American Legacy Foundation® released the results of the 2002 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS 2002). This study, conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that smoking had decreased by 18 percent among high school students since the last survey was conducted in 2000. Smoking rates among high school students were at the lowest rate in 28 years and truth® was a factor in the decline.

Results from the 2002 “Monitoring the Future” survey showed declines in smoking rates among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders and cited the truth® campaign as one of the reasons for this public health victory. The Monitoring the Future study, conducted annually, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and conducted by the University of Michigan.

In addition, the campaign has been lauded by leading Federal and state public health officials, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and former President George Bush. The campaign has won more than 500 awards for advertising efficacy.


Contact:
Patricia McLaughlin
Senior Director of Communications
American Legacy Foundation
2030 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
(tel) 202-454-5555
pmclaughlin@americanlegacy.org