Great American Smokeout

November 19th could be your day!
Your day for what you might ask.
It can be your day to stop using tobacco.

November 19th is the day of the American Cancer Society's (ACS) Great American Smokeout. This is an annual event. It can be a day that you can set as your quit day, or, if you're not quite there yet, it can just be a day when you don't use tobacco. Just for one day. Quitting for a day is doable, and it's very empowering. Show yourself that you can do it for one day, and you just might convince yourself to make it permanent. The ACS provides free resources to the public to help kick the habit. There is a free quitline that you can call and you will be able to talk to a trained quit coach. It's 100% free and 100% confidential. They also provide tips and tools on their website to help individuals who want to quit. There's no time like right now, and the sooner you quit, the sooner you become the boss, not the tobacco!

Getting Creative to Beat Big Tobacco

Teens are getting smarter than the tobacco companies. Empowering teens with information about how the big tobacco companies really work is dangerous for their business in a big way. Teens like to act the part of the rebel and make a scene. They are always told not to and they are reminded to listen to the people in charge. But if the people with the authority are the tobacco companies they better watch out because today's teens know what's going on. Teens are learning that they are being targeted by big tobacco companies and they are being pressured by advertisements directed to them.

Activities are being created that are giving teens a voice against tobacco companies. We have already talked about Kick Butts Day put on by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and now I want to tell you about the Truth Campaign. This campaign is especially for teens. They get the word out in a way that is fresh, interesting and usually, very entertaining. The messages created by the Truth campaign will be ones that people remember for a long time. The marketing strategies of the Truth campaign are phenomenal. These ads and reaching people in a way that has never been explored before. A common tactic used by Truth, is to create a public display that will really get peoples attention, then they video tape it and make a commercial out of it. In this way they are able to reach people right there when they are doing and then they are also able to share that experience with thousands of viewers on television and the internet.

Here are some links to the creative commercials that have been created by this campaign. Check 'em out, I guarantee you'll like them!

Truth Campaign Videos
Jogger Commercial
Melting Moms
The Sunny Side of Truth

Grim Reality Campaign Video

Here is what the UK is doing to reduce the number of smokers. The Grim Reality Campaign uses graphic pictures to depict what happens when you smoke. Where are these pictures located? Right on the carton of cigarettes. Hopefully this will get the message across to smokers that their bad habit will eventually cause them harm, even if they don't see it right now. Check out the video in the post below to find out more about the effects of this campaign in the UK.

Hopefully in the future these kinds of tactics will come to the US. It's possible that those pictures could help reduce smoking rates in a big way. There are efforts underway now to get more control over the tobacco companies and how they advertise. A bill has been passed in the House of Representatives that would give the FDA the ability to regulate the advertisement and sale of tobacco products. If this is also passed in the Senate this could be a big step in reducing the power that the tobacco companies have in our nation. It will be a big step towards reducing the number of smokers in the US.

Grim Reality Campaign

The Low Down on Teen Smoking Stats

4.5 MILLION
teens are smokers.
Did you watch the 2008 Olympics in Beijing? They used a stadium there known as the Bird's Nest. It can hold 91,000 people at a time. It would take almost 50 of these stadiums to hold all the teen smokers in the United States.

3600

teens start smoking every day.
My high school had 2000 students. Can you imagine an more than one entire high school starting to smoke in one day?

1100
will become regular smokers.
Half of my high school would be smoking for the rest of their lives.

90%
of all people who smoke started before they were 21 years old.
So pretty much if your gonna start smoking you better do it before you turn 21 because it looks like when you turn 21 you finally get smart enough to realize that smoking is a bad choice.

20%
of high school seniors smoke at least one cigarette every day.
That's one out of every five seniors. Look around at your lunch table, which one of your five lunch buddies might be struggling with an addiction?

5.5%
of all 8th-graders smoke every day.
8th grade! That's 14 year olds! I wasn't even allowed to ride my bike around the neighborhood by myself at 14 let alone smoke cigarettes everyday. I think I'd rather be outside riding a bike than smoking though.

13%
of high school males use smokeless tobacco.
Ok smokeless tobacco, that means chew, snuff, you know spit tobacco. Gross. I would venture to say that another statistic might be that 13% of high school males aren't getting any kisses.

These statistics were found on the following websites:
Adolescent Smoking Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Kick Butts Day 2009

Wanna help in the fight against big tobacco?
Here is your chance! The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is sponsoring its annual Kick Butts Day next week. That's right! Wednesday, March 25, 2009 is Kick Butts Day. This is a day dedicated to empowering teens to have their voices heard. Next Wednesday teens across the nation will join in many activities to get the message out that big tobacco companies need to be stopped because smoking is causing so many problems in the United States. Some of the activities include creative demonstrations to let people know how bad the problem is locally and demonstrations to inform people of what really goes into cigarettes. These activities are fun and exciting and they really grab the attention of the public. If you want to get involved in your state it's really easy. Simply go to the map and find a Kick Butts Day event near you! Don't miss this great opportunity to be heard and make a difference!

STAND OUT… SPEAK UP… and SEIZE CONTROL AGAINST BIG TOBACCO!

What's Better than Smoking?

Some people might need some incentives to quit smoking so I've come up with a couple of things that are more fun than smoking.

Kissing: I have always found kissing to be a lot of fun. But I would venture to say that it's not a lot of fun to kiss someone with smoker's breath. Not to mention what kind of special pleasure it must bring to kiss someone with oral cancer! Do your significant other a favor and stop smoking.

Playing Football: Ah Football! Arguably the best sport in the world. You run to the sideline wide open and the QB throws you the perfect pass. The ball sticks to your fingertips as you dart to the end zone to score the game-winning touchdown. Now replay the scenario with emphysema, you're the one sitting on the sidelines watching. Wanna have fun? Quit smoking.


Belting your Favorite Song on a Roadtrip: What's more fun than driving across the country with a couple of your best buds at your side. You're driving along on that open stretch of highway, windows rolled down, wind in your hair, and your favorite song comes on the radio. You sing all the words you know and all the words you don't. These are the memories that stay with you forever, unless of course you've had a tracheostomy and you now have a hole in your throat
and you have to use a special machine just to talk.