 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Pamela M Ling, MD, MPH, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of California San Francisco, Box 0320, San Francisco, CA 94143, Lawrence A Haber, BA, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 445 E. 69th St, Apt 730, New York, NY 10021, (646) 483-9555, lah2001@med.cornell.edu, Lori Dorfman, DrPH, Berkeley Media Studies Group, 2140 Shattuck Ave. Suite 804, Berkeley, CA 94704, and Stanton A Glantz, PhD, University of California, San Francisco, Center for Tobacco Control Research & Education, 530 Parnassus Ave., Suite 366, San Francisco, CA 94143-1390.
Significance: Spit tobacco products continue to have a major presence at rodeo events in the USA, and tobacco industry sports sponsorship continues worldwide. Objective: Describe the tobacco industry’s objectives for sponsoring rodeo sporting events, and ways these relationships were used to benefit the tobacco industry. Methods: Analysis of previously secret tobacco industry documents. Results: Tobacco companies have sponsored rodeo events for over 30 years, building relationships with the sport’s governing body, athletes, organizers, suppliers, and media contacts. Tobacco companies used rodeos to target young males of lower socioeconomic states, and to build an exciting, masculine image for tobacco brands. Tobacco companies sought a permanent presence at the events, additional related promotions in the community, and positive press coverage. The industry used its relationships with sports and entertainment figures to oppose FDA regulation of tobacco in the mid 1990s, and used its presence at sporting events to generate “grassroots” support for its legislative agenda. Rodeo sponsorship was one component of extensive marketing programs that included many other sports, entertainment, and community events. Discussion: The objectives of tobacco sport sponsorship programs are remarkably consistent. In response, media advocacy experts recommend consistent message framing strategies to oppose tobacco sponsorship at rodeos, emphasizing: (1) how outside tobacco companies attempt to hijack a community event (2) the image of rodeo as a sporting event is degraded by association with a deadly product, and (3) rodeo should support and enrich the community, not serve as a publicity vehicle for the tobacco industry.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Tobacco Industry, Media Message
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: none
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.