CNN 2010-03-17

So did a cigarette ad target young girls? The tobacco company says no, but pediatricians say, hold on, not so fast. The numbers show a link between the ad and girls lighting¹ up. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here with that story. And of course, it has got a lot of parents pretty worried.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it does. Because you know, cigarette companies were supposed to stop advertising² to underage smokers³, underage girls and boys, like in 1998 and now there are some concerns that they didn't actually keep that pledge. Take a look at this ad. This ran around 2007 in various women's magazines like "Vogue⁴", "Cosmopolitan⁵" and even though I say women's magazines, certainly teenage girls wear it as well. So you can see Camel number nine cigarettes placed next to that's actually part of the ad there with the dress and the stilettos and it's telling women and girls, if you're a girl reading it, how to dress up.

And so what these researchers did was that they asked girls a very specific question about cigarette ads both before and after this campaign. So take a look at this. The numbers are quite telling. They asked the question, what is the name of the cigarette brand of your favorite cigarette advertisement. That's the question.

In 2004, 10 percent of girls chose Camel. Then, the ad campaign was launched in 2007. In 2008, 22 percent of girls chose Camel. So the researchers came to the conclusion it looks like that ad campaign worked. Now we went to RJ Reynolds for a response. And here's what they had to say, they say - R.J. Reynolds adheres to numerous restrictions⁶ on how it markets its tobacco products and does not take any action to target youth. Camel number nine was developed in response to female adult smokers who are asking for a product that better reflected their taste preferences and style."

And Kyra, the reason why doctors care about this is that it's been shown that if a girl can name a brand in their favorite advertisement - if they can say, "oh, yes, my favorite advertisement, it was for Camel." They have a much, much higher chance of starting to smoke in the next couple of years because it’s kind of registered in their head, you know, this is my brand. This is the brand I like.

 

1 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

2 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

3 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

4 Vogue   

n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的

参考例句：

• Flowery carpets became the vogue.花卉地毯变成了时髦货。
• Short hair came back into vogue about ten years ago.大约十年前短发又开始流行起来了。

5 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

6 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制