This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Rongé, L. J. Search for Related Content

Next Article 

SMOKERS WANTED: How tobacco companies hook children

When children who smoke come to see Richard Heyman, M.D., FAAP, he offers them a pack of cigarettes — Misty brand for the boys, invariably reply, "I don't want those; those are for girls," and for girls, Highway brand.

Dr. Heyman, AAP Committee on Substance Abuse chairperson, uses this approach to help children comprehend that they've been duped by tobacco advertisers.

The tobacco industry has been phenomenally effective in mounting marketing campaigns that appeal to children, he said: "They understand how children think, how they want to be like other children, to be part of a crowd."

The industry also plays on the fact that children are anxious to grow up, to be adults, said Roselyn Payne Epps, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, a medical officer at the National Cancer Institute, in Bethesda, Md. Advertisers present tobacco as something glamorous, showing people who are popular, happy, smiling, or rugged, tough, and independent. "Children see this as a sign of being liberated," she said.