Does the Joe Camel campaign preferentially reach 18 to 24 year old adults?

Abstract

Correspondence to: Dr Joseph DiFranza Abstract Objective To determine if the Joe Camel advertising campaign is preferentially reaching 18 to 24 year olds as asserted by the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company. Design Cross sectional study conducted in 1994 comparing individuals who were 18-24 years old when the Joe Camel campaign was launched to those not in this target group. Setting Randomly selected public schools and community colleges in Mas sachusetts, USA. Subjects Public school students in grades 4 to 12 (ages 9-18), and community college students. Main outcome measures Recognition of Joe Camel, perceived prevalence of brand advertising, brand preference, age at first purchase of brand. Results -The greatest familiarity with Joe Camel was shown by subjects who had been under the age of 18 at the launch of the campaign. Adults were much more familiar than children and adolescents with logos for other adult products, but not for Joe Camel. In comparison with advertisements for Marlboro and New port cigarettes, Camel advertisements were identified by children of 10-13 years as those they had seen most often. About half the Camel smokers in the purported target group of 18 to 24 year olds had actually started buying Camels before they were 18. The majority of Marlboro and Newport smokers had also started with these brands when they were under age. Conclusions Although it is possible to advertise adult products preferentially to adults, this has not been the case with the Joe Camel campaign, which has had the greatest impact on individuals who were under 18 years of age at the launch of the campaign.