WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on October 12 is launching a national public education campaign, "Fresh Empire," to prevent and reduce tobacco use among multicultural youth who identify with hip-hop culture.
The agency said that the group is often hard to reach and frequently exposed to pro-tobacco images and messages. While multicultural teens identify with more than one group, the FDA is focusing on “the hip-hop peer crowd” because research estimates that they are more likely to use tobacco than other youth, it said.
“Unfortunately, the health burdens of tobacco use disproportionately affect minority teens—particularly African American and Hispanic youth,” said Jonca Bull, M.D., the FDA’s assistant commissioner for minority health. “The Fresh Empire campaign will help reach teens at a key point in their lives when experimenting with smoking can lead to addiction.”
The campaign, which targets youth ages 12 to 17, works to associate living tobacco free with a hip-hop lifestyle through a variety of interactive marketing strategies, including the use of traditional paid media, engagement through multiple digital platforms, and outreach at the local level. The ads, and particularly the local events, feature community influencers who reinforce that tobacco use is not a part of the hip-hop lifestyle. The ads will air nationally for the first time in conjunction with the 2015 BET Hip-Hop Awards on October 13.
“We know from our research that remaining in control is an important pillar of hip-hop culture. But smoking represents a loss of control, so tobacco use is actually in conflict with that priority,” said Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). “The Fresh Empire campaign underscores that important message to hip-hop youth, empowering this at-risk peer crowd to live tobacco free.”
Fresh Empire's messaging reflects hip-hop ideals such as being authentic, powerful, confident, fashionable, creative and trendsetting. The ads are intended to deliver tobacco education in a manner that is straightforward and relevant to hip-hop youth who relate to values such as working hard to achieve success and attaining or regaining control.
The campaign will launch the week of October 12 in approximately 36 markets throughout the United States for at least 24 months. The $128 million campaign is funded by tobacco user fees.
Fresh Empire is part of the FDA’s ongoing efforts to combat tobacco uptake and use among youth, and it complements the FDA’s general market at-risk youth education campaign, The Real Cost, which launched in February 2014. The FDA’s campaigns are based on the best available science and are evaluated to measure effectiveness in preventing and reducing youth smoking over time.
[Editor's Note: CSP Daily News does not necessarily endorse the opinions, statements, conclusions or recommendations of any organization or individual that it covers as news.]
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.