SMOKING FOES LEARN ABOUT ADS

BOSTON -- For years, critics say the tobacco industry has used aggressive
advertising to get young kids hooked on their products. Now, public health
officials from around the world are fighting back.

Attendees of what's believed to be the first international symposium on
anti-tobacco media met in Boston yesterday to share details about
successful anti-tobacco campaigns and plot strategy - - like how to keep
the message simple for kids.

Take an Arizona advertisement, for example. In it, two teen-agers are
watching a horror movie. As the young girl eats popcorn, her boyfriend
spits chunks of chewing tobacco into their soda cup.

Without looking, the girl takes the cup from the boy's hand and sips from it.

The camera turns away from the couple to the movie screen and the starring
actress screams.

"Shock tactics do work, we're hearing that from different parts of the
world," said Dr. Gregory Connolly, head of the Massachusetts tobacco
control program.

In Australia, officials use graphic images on television to depiction how
"every cigarette is doing you damage."

A recent series of ads showed withered body parts of young smokers laid out
on a table. Another featured a doctor squeezing fat deposits from the aorta
of a 32-year-old man. Still another showed a brain oozing blood after a
minor stroke.

"The percentage of people quitting before the campaign was 8 percent," said
David Hill, director of the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer in
Australia. "Now it's 11.5 percent. That's a significant and important change."

In Massachusetts, a recently released study shows tobacco consumption down
by one-third since the state launched an anti-tobacco campaign in 1993. A
25-cent-a-pack cigarette tax pays for it.

Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Howard Koh said the campaign
targets youth and smokers who want to quit. It also aims to shape public
opinion about second-hand smoke.

"There are some key times when people are motivated that we're trying to
cash in on," Connolly said. "Mother's Day, Father's Day, New Year's Day are
all times when people may be more receptive to quitting."

"We've also found that ads that aren't too preachy tend to work."

Other symposium attendees suggested that states combine resources and
target Hollywood (because movies often glamorize smoking) or advertise at a
major sporting event where tobacco companies hawk their products.

Connolly suggested sponsoring an anti-tobacco car at the Indy 500.

"The tobacco industry is very smart," Koh said. "But hopefully we're
catching up with them."

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski