Under the radar: Smokeless tobacco advertising in magazines with substantial youth readership

Objectives. In light of the Smokeless Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (STMSA) and the fact that smokeless tobacco advertising has received little attention, we examined industry data to assess smokeless tobacco advertising in popular magazines. Of particular interest was the level of advertising in magazines with high youth readership and the amount of reach and frequency that was generated among readers aged 12 to 17 years. Methods. We used readership data from Mediamark Research Inc, advertising expenditure data from TNS Media Intelligence, and Adplus, a media planning program from Telmar to document the composition of adult and youth readership of magazines in which smokeless tobacco products were advertised, industry expenditures on advertising, and adolescents' exposure to smokeless tobacco advertising. Results. The STMSA appears to have had a limited effect on the advertising of smokeless tobacco products to youth; both before and after the agreement, smokeless tobacco companies advertised in magazines with high adolescent readership. Conclusions. Popular magazines with smokeless tobacco advertising reach a large number of adolescents through a combination of both youth-oriented and adult magazines. These exposure levels have generally increased since the STMSA.