Talk is cheap: The tobacco companies' violations of their own cigarette advertising code

In two studies, adolescents and adults were shown a series of cigarette advertisements and asked to respond to a variety of questions concerning aspects of the Cigarette Advertising and Promotion Code, specifically, their perceptions of the ages of the models in the ads and of whether the ads depicted smoking as essential to sexual attraction or essential to success. For many, of the ads, especially ads for brands most popular among youth, a majority of the participants perceived the models to be less than 25 years old. A majority also perceived many of the ads to depict smoking as essential to sexual attraction or essential to success. Thus, despite their public pledge, the tobacco companies routinely violate a variety of aspects of the Cigarette Advertising and Promotion Code.