Smokers’ lives are organized around their nicotine addiction. Forfeiting control to addiction is at the root of a new, original program to stop Arizona youth from smoking and an ‘on-the-ground’ extension of the public service campaign, http://www.venomocity.com.

Today and tomorrow, June 11, the Bureau of Tobacco and Chronic Disease (BTCD) will immerse more than 200 youth from across the state, ages 13-17, into the 2011 anti-smoking youth conference being held at Arizona State University, Old Main Building, Tempe, Ariz. The first-ever 24-hour hands-on learning environment, called The Experiment. Brought to you by addiction. is packed with workshops and presenters.

“Today, teens know about the health impacts of smoking, there is a lot of information they can access,” said Wayne Tormala, Chief, Arizona Department of Health Services Bureau of Tobacco & Chronic Disease. “But, the health dangers may feel ‘far away’ to this audience so explaining the ‘instant impact’ of nicotine addiction leaves an impression right now. ”

On Saturday, they will wake up to a traditional Navajo tobacco ceremony, adapted for the attendees, presented by a Navajo tribal member.

Participating teens will preview a series of new interactive ‘choose your path’ videos that make saying ‘no’ cool. Designed especially for ‘Generation Net,’ participants will have a chance to create their own versions at the conference. The videos can be seen at http://www.venomocity.com.

Phoenix Theatre will unveil 15-minute plays, “Big Tobacco in the Boardroom” a theatrical performance and lab to explain big tobacco marketing tactics and “Anatomy of a Smoker” a theatrical performance and lab to explain the health effects of tobacco use, ‘live’ from a ‘coroner’s’ lab.

National anti-smoking advocate, Mackenzie Lowry will talk about how losing her dad to lung cancer inspired her work on a cigarette tax increase in her state. A Harvard graduate, she founded the Institute of Politics Tobacco Control Policy Group. Glamour magazine honored Mackenzie as one of the Top 10 College Women, coining her as “The Politician.”

Kids who weren’t able to join us in person, can catch some of the The Experiment in real-time online, at http://venomocity.com/experiment or follow it on Twitter #addictionexperiment.

Event organizers plan to stay in touch with all of the attendees and will encourage organization of anti-smoking efforts in their communities.

(Phoenix, AZ) Feb. 17, 2009—How does a marketing firm craft a tobacco prevention campaign for teens that will do more than generate rolled eyeballs and a contemptuous “I know, I know”? It plows new ground and shuns the hackneyed health-based messages of the past. It embraces a strategy that no other state has built an entire campaign with before. And it sets precedence with a pull-no-punches message that is difficult for teens to ignore.

That was the mindset that delivered the strategy behind “Brought to you by addition,” a mass media campaign that was launched today by the state of Arizona, where nearly 25 percent of the high school students smoke cigarettes, a number higher than the national average.

“Teens have heard those danger-to-your-health anti-tobacco messages for what to them seems like forever. These messages don’t work anymore,” said Tim Riester, president and CEO of the Phoenix, AZ.-based marketing communications firm, RIESTER, which created the $3.6 million campaign.

“What grabs the kids’ attention — what gets through to their psyche — is the threat of losing control to addiction,” informed Riester. “That’s what this campaign emphasizes – it stresses the negative impact tobacco addiction has on the daily activities of the kids. It hits home with them. They can relate to it.”

The message will be distributed state-wide via English television commercials, English and Spanish radio ads, posters, cinema advertising, online media, social media, a statewide grass-roots effort, Internet advertising and a new youth-oriented website, venomocity.com.

RIESTER’s creative approach is a dark, satirical take that gives “voice” and “personality” to addiction. The website’s opening message, for example, says: “Welcome. You have stumbled into the powerful world of addition.” Accompanied by eerie, pulsating, horror movie-like audio, it invites the visitor – almost challenges him – to proceed. The next click takes the user on a compelling interactive journey founded in a dark, foreboding, rat-infested room that is the home page. Many of the room’s features – from the laptop to the wall calendar to the Hall of Fume bookcase — lead to sub-plots and messages. The page offers direct links to Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and Flickr social networks.

Click on the radio and one of its messages says, “I’ve been waiting for you. I take your money and shorten your life. I’m addiction, what do you expect?” The announcer says, “Keeping it real. Brought to you by addiction.” The website’s Electro Larynx addresses tobacco-caused maladies such as premature aging, stained teeth and bad taste with a twist, saying, “80 percent of teens would rather date a non-smoker.” The other campaign elements feature similar, unexpected and sometimes in-your-face messages.

RIESTER’s Executive Director of Creative Services, Tom Ortega, notes the new campaign is focused on something very near and dear to 12-to-17- year olds – it concentrates on their independence. “By explaining to kids that their independence – their day-to-day freedom – is jeopardized by the use of commercial tobacco, in a way that they can relate to, we have their attention. We believe they will be less likely to pick up that first cigarette.”

The campaign’s core message, loss of control, was affirmed by local and national studies and by teen-aged focus group participants who were moved by the loss of control over their day-to-day activities and by the constant disruptions caused by nicotine addiction. The campaign’s ground-breaking theme was developed in consultation with a group of teen advisors – some smokers, some friends of smokers – and is anchored in best-practice procedures from tobacco control experts from across the country.

The multi-faceted educational effort is under the auspices of the Arizona Department of Health Service’s Bureau of Tobacco Education and Prevention (BTEP) and its Arizona Tobacco Revenue Use Spending and Tracking (TRUST) Commission. “While the kids are well aware of the health implications of commercial tobacco use and easily recite its impacts, these consequences were perceived as being far removed from their immediate lives,” says Wayne Tormala, bureau chief of BTEP.

This and other discoveries were amplified by research conducted by national organizations. This included the American Cancer Society, which reported that only three out of 100 high school smokers think they will still be smoking in five years, while studies show that the reality is about 60 of them will be smoking seven to nine years after high school.

Tormala believes the new aggressive mass media youth tobacco prevention and education campaign will be impactful “because it spotlights the complexities of nicotine addiction for youth audiences and counters a lethargic attitude toward the health impacts of smoking.” He predicts the website, Venomocity.com, coined to mean tobacco addiction and all that comes with it, will quickly become popular with teens. In addition to hosting all of the campaign’s commercials, it entertains visitors while providing valuable information, he said.

As for the expenditure of $3.6 million in public funds on the education effort, Tormala says that Arizona spends more than that amount daily on healthcare costs related to tobacco. “The investment in prevention is wise,” he says. The funding comes from the tobacco tax approved by voters in 2002 through Proposition 303. “These are tobacco tax funds, not state general funds. They are dollars that must be used for tobacco cessation and prevention efforts.”

He points out that the campaign’s year-long budget “pales” in comparison to the annual tobacco industry marketing expenditures nationwide, which totals $13.4 billion, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

About RIESTER
As one of the largest independent marketing firms in the Western United States, RIESTER is a leader in social cause marketing. The firm offers its clients a complete range of services including; research, brand planning, media planning and buying, broadcast and print ad creation, public relations, government relations and Web marketing. The agency has offices in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Phoenix.

RIESTER is the agency of record for multiple regional and national clients including: McDonalds; Culligan; Hormel; HERDEZ; Veterinary Pet Insurance; Arizona Lottery; Scottsdale Convention and Visitor’s Bureau; Casino Arizona; the Arizona Meth Project; the Utah Methamphetamine Public Awareness Campaign; and the California Department of Conservation. RIESTER’s public affairs activities include statewide and local ballot measure campaigns, as well as candidate campaigns, for municipal, state and federal office.

RIESTER has been named the fastest growing, privately held advertising and public relations agency in the country by Inc. magazine four consecutive years. In 2001, Creativity Magazine listed RIESTER among the Top 20 Creative Agencies to Watch in America. Visit us on the web at www.riester.com.