Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

Martin Lindstrom's oversimplification of the impact of health warnings on tobacco use in his book Buyology is dangerous and irresponsible.
 
In today's New York Times, Lindstrom argues that the FDA should abandon its policy of providing warnings about serious health consequences for tobacco. His rationale focuses on brainwave studies measuring brain activity when people read warning labels on cigarette packages. He doesn't reference behavior. He doesn't reference research that shows what factors have been responsible for reducing smoking rates from 30 to 20 percent nationally. He doesn’t consider the most effective way to communicate the consequences of tobacco use.
 
Here on Tobacco Road, we have evidence that communicating serious health consequences prevents teens from using tobacco. Our state has invested millions of dollars from North Carolina's portion of the Master Settlement Agreement in grassroots outreach and media campaigns that convey the potential impact of smoking or using smokeless tobacco.
 
I've seen the reaction of teens to stories of cancer survivors who have lost their voice box or been disfigured by oral cancer. These stories, the visual images and the facts get their attention. More importantly, communicating the serious health consequences produces results. According to research from UNC Family Medicine, 34,000 fewer North Carolina teens are using tobacco today thanks to these efforts. And, the most recent Youth Tobacco Survey shows North Carolina's teen tobacco use rates are at historically low levels. That's quite a feat for a state steeped in tobacco heritage and real, tangible evidence that health warnings, done the right way work.
 
Oversimplifying facts and making provocative statements may sell books, but it's not the way to attack the number one cause of death in the US. Mr. Lindstrom, I urge you to look at all the facts before making reckless recommendations to our country's new administration.
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/opinion/12lindstrom.html?_r=1&th&emc=th