Thinking Like a Tobacco Company: Grades 7-9

Level: Grades 7 to 9

Overview

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In this lesson, students learn how the tobacco industry targets the needs, wishes and desires of young people in order to sell cigarettes. Students begin by looking at the reasons why the tobacco industry needs to recruit "replacement" smokers. Then they assume the roles of marketing personnel in a tobacco company and use a 1987 youth survey conducted by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco to create their own marketing campaigns to sway various sub-groups within the youth demographic.

Learning Outcomes

Students will demonstrate:

an understanding of how the tobacco industry uses psychological data to profile and market cigarettes to specific target audiences
an awareness of how the tobacco industry downplays the health risks associated with smoking
an awareness of how advertisers use specific strategies to target youth
an understanding of why the tobacco industry needs to recruit replacement smokers

Preparation and Materials

For ideas on how to conduct discussion groups on this topic, see Guidelines for Peer-Led Discussion Groups, on the sidebar.

Photocopy the following student handouts:

Make photocopies or overheads of the following ads, or use these as examples for finding similar ads in magazines:

Advertisements for Young Smokers
Have large sheets of paper ready for brainstorming.

Procedure

Class Discussion/Role-Play

Tell your students to imagine that they work in the marketing branch of a large multinational tobacco company, and they have been called to a meeting to figure out how the company can sell more cigarettes and increase its profits.

As the marketing vice-president, you begin the meeting by giving a "pep talk." Like most executives leading a meeting, you have visual aids to help you get your point across.

Assume the role of ad executive. Use the overhead projector.

Suggested Script:

"The good news is that, even though we're getting bad press about all the health problems caused by smoking, people keep lighting up! Every time someone lights up one of our cigarettes, that's about one cent profit for us. It may not sound like much, but for each pack-a-day smoker, that adds up to about $70 a year. In Canada, there are about 6 million smokers, representing about $420 million profit annually. So every smoker that chooses our brand is precious to us. We need them—and because they're addicted, they need us."

Show Number of Deaths in Canada Caused by Smoking.

"Now, the bad news is that our customers are dying off like flies. That's the problem when one's product causes heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and emphysema—to name a few of the unfortunate side effects."

Show Why We Need Replacement Smokers.

"The other bad news is that once people realize they're killing themselves when they smoke, they get it into their heads that they should quit. We call these smokers "pre-quitters." At any one time, about 16 per cent of smokers are trying to quit. Only about 10-12 per cent of those attempts are successful - but still, about 140,000 Canadians do manage to quit each year. This is terrible! What can we do?? (Ask for suggestions.) "What we need are replacement smokers - new smokers, or "starters" to replace the ones who quit or die. Of course, we also want to convince our present customers that they shouldn't worry about their health. And we want to capture the "switchers" as well—smokers who want to switch brands.

Distribute Recruiting the Replacement Smoker. Once students have reviewed it, ask these questions:

Why are young teens such a desirable target group to our industry?
What are some advertising campaigns that have proven effective in reaching young people?
What are some ways that we could find out more about young people?
What do we need to know about young people in order to better market our products to them?

Distribute R. J. Reynolds Report to students.

"Here's a study about Canadian teens that was completed by one of our competitors." Give students some time to review each category, then ask these questions:

Which is the largest group? What are the traits of this group?
Which group contains the highest percentage of 15-17-year-olds? What are the traits of this group?
Which group contains the highest percentage of 18-21-year-olds? What are the traits of this group?
Which group contains the highest percentage of males? What are the traits of this group?
Which group contains the highest percentage of females? What are the traits of this group?
Which group represents the highest percentage of smokers overall?
Which group are we most likely to successfully market cigarettes to? Why?
Which group are we least likely to successfully market cigarettes to? Why?
Showhow the Advertisements for Young Smokers - or similar ones, from magazines aimed at young people.
Which of these groups would each of these ads most appeal to? Why?

Activity

"We know our target groups, so now let's sell some cigarettes! Your job is to think up new ideas for getting our message across to each target group. Think of images that will really "grab" your target audience. Who should be in your ads, and what should they be doing?"

Divide the class into seven groups. Assign each a target group from the R. J. Reynolds Report.
As this report was created in the mid-1980s, ask students to update the profile of their group (i.e. "Big City Independents" might listen to rap or hip hop music; "T.G.I.F.'s" might be likely to play video games, etc.)
Each student group will develop an advertising strategy for their target audience. Students will brainstorm messages (verbal and visual) that will influence their target group. They will also decide which magazines to place their ads in.
Once a strategy has been developed, students will create a magazine advertisement or campaign.
As part of their presentation, group members will select a person from their group to represent a young person from their target audience. On the day of the presentation, this person (who will dress and act according to the personality traits described in the study) will be invited by the "advertising team" to provide a brief introduction to the target group they represent. (For example, if the student represents "Big City Independents," the chosen student would act like a male, aged 18-21, who is single, assertive, not too fashion-conscious, etc.)

Once the presentations are completed, post the group strategies and final advertisements on a bulletin board under the heading "The Target is You."

Evaluation

Group presentation, advertising strategies and advertisements.