An analysis of messages about tobacco in the "Military Times" magazines

The Military Times magazines are seen as an independent source of news and information on the military and are widely read by military members. Given the influence of Military Times as a powerful media outlet within the military and marketing to military personnel by the tobacco industry, we examine...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nicotine & tobacco research 2008-07, Vol.10 (7), p.1191-1197
Main Authors: Haddock, C. Keith, Hoffman, Kevin, Taylor, Jennifer E., Schwab, Lisa, Poston, Walker S. C., Lando, Harry A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advertising as Topic - statistics & numerical data
Health Education - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Military Medicine
Military Personnel
Newspapers as Topic - statistics & numerical data
Smoking
Social Marketing
Tobacco Industry
United States
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Summary:The Military Times magazines are seen as an independent source of news and information on the military and are widely read by military members. Given the influence of Military Times as a powerful media outlet within the military and marketing to military personnel by the tobacco industry, we examined tobacco messages and advertisements in a one-year sample from each service. No advertisements for cigarettes or other forms of smoked tobacco were found in any issue published in 2005. However, smokeless tobacco products were advertised frequently, with 11 distinct ads occurring in 105 ad placements. During the year targeted in the present study, smokeless tobacco advertising generated approximately US$564,249 in revenue for the publishers of Military Times. A content analysis suggested that the advertisements intended to pair smokeless tobacco use with a pleasant mood and enjoyable events not directly associated with the product itself. In addition, magazine articles about anti-tobacco topics received among the lowest amount of coverage among all pro-health articles. These findings may partially explain the recent significant increase in smokeless tobacco use among military personnel.
ISSN:1462-2203
1469-994X
DOI:10.1080/14622200802163126