The Promotion of Unhealthy Habits through Smoking Essay

The Promotion of Unhealthy Habits through Smoking - Essay Example This essay "The Promotion of Unhealthy Habits through Smoking" outlines the negative effect of the advertising, its targets and the most influenced age group. Till as late as the 1970s tobacco companies had an almost unobstructed ride with their freewheeling advertisements. However, as more and more irrefutable scientific evidence pointed towards smoking-related health hazards, governments of more advanced nations and various other social and medical groups took up cudgels against irresponsible cigarette advertisements that could mislead people. In the United States such resistance culminated in the Master Settlement Act (MSA) signed on November 1998 between 46 states and five territories and he major tobacco companies viz. Phillip Morris Companies (now known as Altria), RJ Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard Tobacco, and Brown and Williamson. The MSA came into effect in 1999 and curbed outdoor cigarette advertising, transit advertising, cigarette-related cartoon characters, product placemen t in the media and tobacco merchandizing (Krugman et al, 2006, pp. 197). Simultaneously, it had been made mandatory that all tobacco products carry health hazard warnings, and even more stringent laws have been enacted in states such as California to ban tobacco advertisements in youth magazines and sale of tobacco to young people. In spite of all such anti-smoking measures, tobacco companies still managed to come up with novel ways of circumventing the law and rules and use advertisements to promote sales.