Reducing tobacco advertising in the retail environment: A grocery chain case study

Research has shown that tobacco advertising in the retail environment increases the likelihood of youth onset of tobacco use. The tobacco industry spends $429.6 million annually in New York State to market their products. Therefore, the New York State Tobacco Control Program's community contractors set a goal of decreasing the visibility of tobacco products in stores. In 2007, a coalition of community health advocates targeted a large grocery chain headquartered in New York State to adopt a policy to reduce tobacco product visibility and advertising. An initial field assessment determined that all 71 stores of the large grocery chain had visible tobacco advertising and prominent tobacco product placement. Community contractors then conducted strategic interventions that included community mobilization, paid and earned media and corporate negotiations. Eventually, these interventions resulted in a state-wide policy adopted by the grocery chain to eliminate tobacco advertising and cover-up tobacco products at all of their 71 stores. Community health advocates conducted follow up assessments at six months and a year after policy implementation to document sustained policy compliance. This session will provide an overview of the community interventions utilized to successfully achieve this policy as well as a summary of the data collected to document policy change at the grocery chain.