Anti-smoking campaign targets teens

These are just some of the ingredients contained in tobacco smoke, according to a new anti-smoking campaign targeting teenagers.

"Teens are stupid if they smoke" is the message behind the campaign, which aims to reduce the number of young people who take up smoking.

How would you feel about inhaling aviation fuel, paint stripper and poison used in gas chambers?

The campaign, which begins today, comes as new statistics reveal 15 per cent of 12 to 17 year-olds smoke, with more than half of all smokers starting before the age of 15.

The campaign will be centred on `Corporate Tobacco Man? - a fictional character representing the tobacco industry who will feature in cinema advertisements, on social networking sites and on the campaign website www.teensarestupid.ie

It uses art installations featuring a teenage girl mannequin trapped in a glass box full of smoke to discourage young people from smoking.

?There is a handle on the inside of the box and the girl could free herself but she doesn?t -like so many people who continue to smoke,? according to the Irish Cancer Society.

In Ireland, the tobacco industry needs over 50 young people to start smoking every day to remain viable, a spokeswoman for the society said.

?So we have invented 'Corporate Tobacco Man' and through his many guises, we are showing how evil and sinister he is and how he reaches out to teenagers and subtly manipulates them to adopt a dangerous and expensive addiction to nicotine and a lifelong habit that often leads to ill health and premature death?

Source: Pamela Newenham, The Irish Times, 09/07/2010