The Truth Initiative, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit dedicated to ending tobacco use, will air short video commercials during the MTV Video Music Awards Aug. 27, according to UPI.
The campaign, called "Business or Exploitation?" aims to showcase how the tobacco industry markets cigarette use toward individuals with mental health issues and members of the military.
"The two pieces of content we're launching on the VMAs are a continuation of initiatives we started last February at the Grammy's about big tobacco targeting certain groups," Robin Koval, CEO and president of Truth Initiative, told UPI. "This time we really want to shine a light on the mental health population."
Ms. Koval said the organization's target demographic is the 15-to 24-year-old range. The organization decided to air the commercials during the MTV VMAs because it presented an opportunity "to have [the organizations'] messages in places we know [the demographic] will be more involved in and music is a passion point for them. The VMAs is where we can aggregate a lot of eyeballs on our campaign."
According to information presented in the campaign, the U.S. Marines maintain one of the highest rates of smoking among all service members, with the U.S. Department of Defense spending more than $1.6 billion each year on tobacco-related medical care. The organization also alleges in the campaign the tobacco industry has "given away free cigarettes to psychiatric facilities," the report states.
"Big Tobacco saw the military market as being really key to their profits in a way that I think is deeply cynical," Elizabeth Smith, PhD, an adjunct professor of social and behavioral sciences at UC San Francisco School of Nursing, said in one of the ads. "[Tobacco companies] sponsored lots of entertainment for troops on the military bases, giving away cigarettes. This seemed like a gift to the troops, but really it's all about just marketing the product."