 Legacy Works to Counteract Big Tobacco's Marketing toward Women
Throughout
history, the tobacco industry has tapped into the social consciousness
of women who sought independence and equality. With the help of
psychologists, advertisers and marketing experts, the industry devised
plans to link cigarettes to the women's liberation movement - a
strategy that still has women lighting up across the nation decades
later. Public health advocates continue to battle this misaligned
association in hopes of giving women who smoke every chance to live
longer, healthier, tobacco-free lives. In fact, World No Tobacco Day on
May 31 will focus on gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing
to women.
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Helping Women Live Longer, Healthier Lives
From World No Tobacco Day to National Women's Health Week and even Mothers' Day earlier this month, many commemorations in the month of May seek to encourage women to make their health a top priority and empower them to make choices that lead to longer, healthier lives. Read the latest blog post from Legacy President and CEO Cheryl G. Healton about how one can use these points in time as an opportunity to reach out to friends and loved ones who might be affected by tobacco and tobacco-related diseases.
"Last Mothers' Day made me think, once again, about my own mother, who lost her life to smoking much too young at 62 years old. She was my best friend, and I have a wonderful picture of her in my office that I often glance at as I work. It has been more than 20 years since her passing, but I still think of her every day.
Mother's Day is also the day, in 1992, when I finally quit smoking for good. Like many Americans, I am a former smoker, and I have lost numerous loved ones to smoking. I have several aunts, uncles and loved ones who too died prematurely from smoking. If I were to ask all the readers of this blog post for a show of hands, sadly, I believe most of us have similar stories to tell."
Read more...
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truth® Puts the Power of Giving in the Hands of Teens
The truth® youth smoking prevention campaign was  recently selected by Best
Buy, one of the nation's largest electronics retailers, to be part of the @15
Exchange, a program that drives teens to become active leaders in social
change. As part of the program, Best Buy donates $250,000 each quarter to
charities selected by teens. Using online activities and voting applications,
teens collect points and then donate them among four nonprofit organizations. truthis making its debut as one of the charities selected to participate in this
quarter. The percentage of the available points each organization earns through
the teen voting, then determines the organization's percentage of the $250,000
awarded each quarter. Using videos, photos and a viral toolkit, truth will
engage young people and encourage them to sign up and spread the message
through social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, MyYearbook, YouTube
and Bebo. @15 is open to all teens, ages 13-18, in the United States. Click here to learn
more and register.
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Federal Communications Commission Asked to Add Smoking , Alcohol Use to TV Content
Today's new media landscape brings
a longer list of inappropriate television content, including alcohol abuse,
smoking and even the marketing of junk food to children, which one survey shows
are just as great a concern to parents as violence, sex and profanity. 
The
national survey by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)
aims to understand American parents' concerns about media's effect on children,
considering that the average youth between the age of 8 and 18 spends 30
percent of his or her time on total media watching television - more time spent
online or on the phone. The report found that:
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84 percent of parents reported sexual content as their primary concern;
illegal drug use followed at 78 percent; violence 76 percent; profane language
74 percent; and alcohol abuse at 70 percent. More than half of parents were
also concerned with marketing of junk food to children (55 percent) and smoking
(53 percent);
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More than 80 percent of parents want to be able to control their child's
access to media
- content; and
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Fifty-eight percent believe that the government should do more to
protect children from inappropriate media content.
In light of this research,
several groups are asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to update
its TV ratings system so that parents can be warned about specific show
content. Legacy supports this call-to-action, pointing to a growing body of
research that shows how smoking images in media, particularly movies, can be
more powerful than traditional tobacco ads, accounting for the single largest
reason that youth start to smoke. Read More.
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Asian Americans Coming Together Against Tobacco
Across the nation, Asian Americans observe Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May with street celebrations, film festivals and other events to help celebrate the accomplishments of Asian Americans. The month also offers a time to reflect on issues still facing the community - one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States - such as public health and tobacco in particular. In 2000, sixty-eight percent of Asian Americans reported wanting to quit smoking and 39 percent reported making a quit attempt.
Learn more about the facts about Asian Americans and Smoking here.
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Grantee Spotlight
One Legacy grantee, Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Inc. (CPACS) seeks to increase health equity for Asian Americans in the greater Atlanta, GA area by delivering culturally competent and comprehensive social and health services, including tobacco prevention. By engaging community leaders on effective tobacco control strategies, CPACS hopes to reduce the health impact of America's number one cause of preventable death. CPACS' program, entitled ACT - Asian Americans Coming Together Against Tobacco - uses a three-pronged approach to tobacco control: conducting needs assessment regarding tobacco in the Asian community, coalition building within the community, and a community navigator program to guide smokers to appropriate resources. Activities include conducting focus groups in three Asian American communities (Bhutanese, Korean & Vietnamese), using PhotoVoice to involve community members in defining tobacco use issues and promoting discussion, hosting a tobacco leadership training summit, establishing a social marketing campaign, and training navigators from ethnic communities as cessation counselors.
Photovoice
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photovoice is a methodology mostly used in the field of community development, public health, and education which combines photography with grassroots social action.
The Institute for Cultural Partnerships' Family First initiative uses lay tobacco educators to encourage smoke-free homes in two refugee communities, including the Vietnamese population in Harrisburg, PA. It engages community members in the PhotoVoice process to develop culturally specific tobacco control messaging, educational materials and programming focused on the dangers of secondhand smoke and the skills required to institute smoke-free home policies.
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Making Pacific Islands Tobacco Free
Two years ago in May, the Pacific
Partnership for Tobacco Free Islands (PPTFI) was formed to address the tobacco
epidemic in the Pacific Jurisdictions of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the
Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. Smoking rates
among adults and youth in parts of the Pacific continue to be higher than U.S.
national averages for any ethnic group, and it was determined that one body was
needed to represent the interests of the jurisdictions. According to George
Cruz, Chair of PPTFI, "The PPTFI is important because it creates one
powerful voice for the Pacific when addressing tobacco control and prevention,
regionally, nationally and internationally."
Legacy along with Asian Pacific
Partners for Empowerment and Leadership (APPEAL), the Asian Pacific Islander
American Health Forum, the American Cancer Society, Papa Ola Lokahi, Queens
Medical Center, and others have supported the efforts of PPTFI.
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Legacy Goes Platinum
Legacy recently won two
platinum awards in the 2010 Hermes Creative Awards competition, an
international com petition that recognizes communications professionals involved
in the concept, writing and design of traditional materials and programs, and
emerging technologies. Entries come from television stations, corporate
marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, public relations
firms, design shops and from freelance practitioners. Legacy was recognized for
its Become An EX: National Quit Smoking Campaign in the PR
campaign category and for its 2009 Progress Report: The Voice of Change
in the annual report category. This is Legacy's 7th and 8th Hermes Creative Awards,
having won six other commendations in 2007-2009 for outreach around the
truth youth smoking prevention campaign.
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