nti-smoking advertisements are right up there - with nicotine patches, gels and chewing gums that curb the urge to smoke - among the non-performers. A study published in The American Journal of Public Health has found that ads encouraging young people not to smoke had no beneficial effect. The study was conducted by academic researchers and supported by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The survey polled 103,172 students

What is worse is that commercials targeting parents to warn their children against smoking were found to be harmful to teenagers who saw them. According to the research, the more a teenager is potentially exposed to the commercials, the greater the intention to smoke and the more likely they are to have smoked in the past 30 days.... more