2014

HomeWashington Letter2014 ▶ FDA Launches National Tobacco Prevention Campaign Focusing on Teens
FDA Launches National Tobacco Prevention Campaign Focusing on Teens

February 2014

This week, the Food and Drug Administration announced the launch of the first ever FDA national campaign on tobacco control targeted at youth. The campaign intends to use messages that resonate with the teen audience and focus on media outlets that reach the teen audience. In describing the national campaign, Mitch Zeller, director of the Center for Tobacco Products at FDA noted the campaign will use many of the tactics of the Truth campaign conducted by the American Legacy Foundation. The year-long $114 million campaign will use various media outlets and will include a component that evaluates the effectiveness of the campaign.

The initial campaign will focus on cigarettes and will not cover other tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and cigars – products that FDA has yet to assert its regulatory authority over.

The campaign was lauded by tobacco control, physician groups and public health advocates. However, it was noted that the tobacco industry spends nearly a $1 million/hour in advertising in the U.S.

Last Reviewed: October 2017