FDA Launches National Advertising Campaign to Stop Tobacco Sales to Children

The campaign kickoff coincides with the 1-year anniversary of the FDA tobacco rule that makes it a federal violation to sell cigarettes or spit tobacco to anyone younger than 18 years old and requires retailers to ask for photo identification (ID) from anyone younger than 27 who attempts to purchase these products.

The educational and advertising campaign began in Arkansas and will expand to 10 additional states this spring -- California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington. The campaign will be rolled out in each state as enforcement efforts⁽¹⁾ in that state begin. By year's end, FDA expects to have the advertising campaign in all 50 states.

Studies show the best way to keep retailers from selling tobacco products to children is through a combination of compliance activities and public education campaigns that target both retailers and consumers.

FDA developed an educational campaign that uses radio, print, and billboard advertisements as well as eye-catching materials that retailers would want to put up in their stores. The materials use humorous illustrations and messages to remind retailers, clerks, and customers about the law and the retailer's risk of fines for failing to comply with it. In addition, the campaign is designed to encourage customers to cooperate with retailers by lowering customers' resistance to presenting an ID when asked.

Retailers will receive packages of posters and other items that they can display in their store, including change mats on counters, enter/exit signs on glass doors, and cash register tent cards. In addition to the in-store materials, advertising space will be rented on the outside of some stores to mount a colorful, enlarged poster explaining why retailers are checking photo IDs.

The materials were tested in focus groups of retailers and consumers. FDA will assess the impact of the advertising campaign with premarket and postmarket tracking studies to ensure that the advertisements are being heard and remembered by the target audience.

By calling FDA's toll-free tobacco hotline, 1-888-FDA-4KIDS, consumers, retailers, and others can ask questions about the tobacco regulation, request information, or report a suspected violation of the tobacco rule. Materials are also available on the Internet at http://www.fda.gov.