A In 1992, the most recent year for which data are available, the US tobacco industry spent $5 billion on domestic marketing. That figure represents a huge increase from the approximate £250-million budget in 1971, when tobacco advertising was banned from television and radio. The current expenditure translates to about $75 for every adult smoker or to $4,500 for every adolescent who became a smoker that year. This apparently high cost to attract a new smoker is very likely recouped over the average 25 years that this teen will smoke.В In the first half of this century, leaders of the tobacco companies boasted that innovative mass-marketing strategies built the industry. Recently, however, the tobacco business has maintained that its advertising is geared to draw established smokers to particular brands. But public health advocates insist that such advertising plays a role in generating new demand, with adolescents being the primary target. To explore the issue, we examined several marketing campaigns undertaken over the years and correlated them with the ages smokers say they began their habit. We find that, historically, there is considerable evidence that such campaigns led to an increase in cigarette smoking among adolescents of the targeted group.
С National surveys collected the ages at which people started smoking. The 1955 Current Population Survey (CPS) was the first to query respondents for this information, although only summary data survive. Beginning in 1970, however,the National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS) included this question in some polls. Answers from all the surveys were combined to produce a sample of more than 165,000 individuals. Using a respondent's age at the time of the survey and the reported age of initiation, [age they started smoking],the year the person began smoking could be determined. Dividing the number of adolescents (defined as those 12 to 17 years old)who started smoking during a particular interval by the number who were "eligible “to begin at the start of the interval set the initiation rate for that group.
D Mass-marketing campaigns began as early as the 1880s, which boosted tobacco consumption six fold by 1900.Much of the rise was attributed to a greater number of people smoking cigarettes, as opposed to using cigars, pipes, snuff or chewing tobacco. Marketing strategies included painted billboards and an extensive distribution of coupons, which a recipient could redeem for free cigarettes.... Some brands included soft-porn pictures of women in the packages. Such tactics inspired outcry from educational leaders concerned about their corrupting influence on teenage boys. Thirteen percent of the males surveyed in 1955 who reached adolescence between i 890 and 1910 commenced smoking by 18 years of age, compared with almost no females.
E The power of targeted advertising is more apparent if one considers the men born between 1890 and 1899. In 1912, when many of these men were teenagers, the R.J. Reynolds Company launched the Camel brand of cigarettes with a revolutionary approach. ... Every city in the country was bombarded with print advertising. According to the 1955 CPS, initiation by age 18 for males in this group jumped to 21.6 percent, a two thirds increase over those born before 1890. The NHIS initiation rate also reflected this change. For adolescent males it went up from .9 percent between 1910 and 1912 to 4.9 percent between 1918 and 1921.
F It was not until the mid-1920s that social mores permitted cigarette advertising to focus on women. ... In 1926 a poster depicted women imploring smokers of Chesterfield cigarettes to "Blow Some My Way". The most successful crusade, however, was for Lucky Strikes, which urged women to "Reach for a Lucky instead of a Sweet." The 1955 CPS data showed that 7 percent of the women who were adolescents during the mid-1920s had started smoking by age 18, compared with only 2 percent in the preceding generation of female adolescents. Initiation rates from the NHIS data for adolescent girls were observed to increase threefold, from 0.6 percent between 1922 and 1925 to 1.8 percent between 1930 and 1933. In contrast, rates for males rose only slightly.
G The next major boost in smoking initiation in adolescent females occurred in the late 1960s. In 1967 the tobacco industry launched "niche" brands aimed exclusively at women. The most popular was Virginia Slims. The visuals of this campaign emphasized a woman who was strong, independent and very thin. ... Initiation in female adolescents nearly doubled, from 3.7 percent between 1964 and 1967 to 6.2 percent between 1972 and 1975 (NHIS data). During the same period, rates for adolescent males remained stable.
H Thus, in four distinct instances over the past 100 years, innovative and directed tobacco marketing campaigns was associated with marked surges in primary demand from adolescents only in the target group. The first two were directed at males and the second two at females. Of course, other factors helped to entrench smoking in society. ... Yet it is clear from the data that advertising has been an overwhelming force in attracting new users.
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Sunday, May 30, 2010
Creating Artificial Reefs
In the coastal waters of the US, a nation's leftovers have been discarded. Derelict ships, concrete blocks, scrapped cars, army tanks, tires filled with concrete and redundant planes litter the sea floor. However, this is not waste disposal, but part of a coordinated, state-run program. To recently arrived fish, plants and other sea organisms, these artificial reefs are an ideal home, offering food and shelter.Sea-dumping incites widespread condemnation. Little surprise when oceans are seen as 'convenient' dumping grounds for the rubbish we have created but would rather forget. However, scientific evidence suggests that if we dump the right things, sea life can actually be enhanced. And more recently, purpose built structures of steel or concrete have been employed - some the size of small apartment blocks principally to increase fish harvests.
The choice of design and materials for an artificial reef depends on where it is going to be placed. In areas of strong currents, for example, a solid concrete structure will be more appropriate than ballasted tires. It also depends on what species are to be attracted. It is pointless creating high-rise structures for fish that prefer flat or low-relief habitat. But the most important consideration is the purpose of the reef.
In the US, where there are a national reef plan using cleaned up rigs and tanks, artificial reefs have mainly been used to attract fish for recreational fishing or sport-diving. But there are many other ways in which they can be used to manage the marine habitat. For as well as protecting existing habitat, providing purpose-built accommodation for commercial species (such as lobsters and octopi) and acting as sea defenses, they can be an effective way of improving fish harvests.
Japan, for example, has created vast areas of artificial habitat - rather than isolated reefs - to increase its fish stocks. In fact, the cultural and historical importance of seafood in Japan is reflected by the fact that it is a world leader in reef technology; what's more, those who construct and deploy reefs have sole rights to the harvest.
In Europe, artificial reefs have been mainly employed to protect habitat. Particularly so in the Mediterranean where reefs have been sunk as physical obstacles to stop illegal trawling, which is destroying sea grass beds and the marine life that depends on them. If you want to protect areas of the seabed, you need something that will stop trawlers dead in their tracks,' says Dr Antony Jensen of the Southampton Oceanography Centre.
Italy boasts considerable artificial reef activity. It deployed its first scientifically planned reef using concrete cubes assembled in pyramid forms in 1974 to enhance fisheries and stop trawling. And Spain has built nearly 50 reefs in its waters, mainly to discourage trawling and enhance the productivity of fisheries. Meanwhile, Britain established its first quarried rock artificial reef in 1984 off the Scottish coast, to assess its potential for attracting commercial species.
But while the scientific study of these structures is a little over a quarter of a century old, artificial reefs made out of readily available materials such as bamboo and coconuts have been used by fishermen for centuries. And the benefits have been enormous. By placing reefs close to home, fishermen can save time and fuel. But unless they are carefully managed, these areas can become over fished. In the Philippines, for example, where artificial reef programs have been instigated in response to declining fish populations, catches are often allowed to exceed the maximum potential new production of the artificial reef because there is no proper management control.
There is no doubt that artificial reefs have lots to offer. And while purpose-built structures are effective, the real challenge now is to develop environmentally safe ways of using recycled waste to increase marine diversity. This will require more scientific research. For example, the lactates from one of the most commonly used reef materials, tires, could potentially be harmful to the creatures and plants that they are supposed to attract. Yet few extensive studies have been undertaken into the long term effects of disposing of tires at sea. And at the moment, there is little consensus about what is environmentally acceptable to dump at sea, especially when it comes to oil and gas rigs. Clearly, the challenge is to develop environmentally acceptable ways of disposing of our rubbish while enhancing marine life too. What we must never be allowed to do is have an excuse for dumping anything we like at sea.
Read More......
The choice of design and materials for an artificial reef depends on where it is going to be placed. In areas of strong currents, for example, a solid concrete structure will be more appropriate than ballasted tires. It also depends on what species are to be attracted. It is pointless creating high-rise structures for fish that prefer flat or low-relief habitat. But the most important consideration is the purpose of the reef.
In the US, where there are a national reef plan using cleaned up rigs and tanks, artificial reefs have mainly been used to attract fish for recreational fishing or sport-diving. But there are many other ways in which they can be used to manage the marine habitat. For as well as protecting existing habitat, providing purpose-built accommodation for commercial species (such as lobsters and octopi) and acting as sea defenses, they can be an effective way of improving fish harvests.
Japan, for example, has created vast areas of artificial habitat - rather than isolated reefs - to increase its fish stocks. In fact, the cultural and historical importance of seafood in Japan is reflected by the fact that it is a world leader in reef technology; what's more, those who construct and deploy reefs have sole rights to the harvest.
In Europe, artificial reefs have been mainly employed to protect habitat. Particularly so in the Mediterranean where reefs have been sunk as physical obstacles to stop illegal trawling, which is destroying sea grass beds and the marine life that depends on them. If you want to protect areas of the seabed, you need something that will stop trawlers dead in their tracks,' says Dr Antony Jensen of the Southampton Oceanography Centre.
Italy boasts considerable artificial reef activity. It deployed its first scientifically planned reef using concrete cubes assembled in pyramid forms in 1974 to enhance fisheries and stop trawling. And Spain has built nearly 50 reefs in its waters, mainly to discourage trawling and enhance the productivity of fisheries. Meanwhile, Britain established its first quarried rock artificial reef in 1984 off the Scottish coast, to assess its potential for attracting commercial species.
But while the scientific study of these structures is a little over a quarter of a century old, artificial reefs made out of readily available materials such as bamboo and coconuts have been used by fishermen for centuries. And the benefits have been enormous. By placing reefs close to home, fishermen can save time and fuel. But unless they are carefully managed, these areas can become over fished. In the Philippines, for example, where artificial reef programs have been instigated in response to declining fish populations, catches are often allowed to exceed the maximum potential new production of the artificial reef because there is no proper management control.
There is no doubt that artificial reefs have lots to offer. And while purpose-built structures are effective, the real challenge now is to develop environmentally safe ways of using recycled waste to increase marine diversity. This will require more scientific research. For example, the lactates from one of the most commonly used reef materials, tires, could potentially be harmful to the creatures and plants that they are supposed to attract. Yet few extensive studies have been undertaken into the long term effects of disposing of tires at sea. And at the moment, there is little consensus about what is environmentally acceptable to dump at sea, especially when it comes to oil and gas rigs. Clearly, the challenge is to develop environmentally acceptable ways of disposing of our rubbish while enhancing marine life too. What we must never be allowed to do is have an excuse for dumping anything we like at sea.
Read More......
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