Cartoon characters as tobacco warning labels.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Adolescent Health
• Tobacco Control

Background:

• Previous research suggests the Joe Camel campaign effectively marketed tobacco to youth.
• Current tobacco warning messages are often found to be ineffective.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the importance and believability of tobacco warnings using cartoons modeled after Joe Camel.
• To compare novel and familiar warning messages with and without cartoon elements.

Main Methods:

• Surveyed 580 adolescents in Chicago public schools.
• Assessed believability and importance of 3 cartoon tobacco warnings (modeled after Joe Camel) with two messages: "Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy" or "Smoking Kills."
• Compared cartoon warnings to plain text warnings.

Main Results:

• Adolescents found all 3 cartoon warnings significantly more believable than plain warnings (P<.05).
• The "Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy" message was rated significantly more believable and important than "Smoking Kills" across all cartoon conditions (P<.01).
• Certain demographic groups showed differential believability and importance ratings for specific cartoon and message combinations.

Conclusions:

• Cartoon tobacco warnings appear more believable than plain warnings, suggesting their potential utility in future tobacco warning labels.
• The low believability and importance ratings for the "Smoking Kills" warning are concerning, given its recent implementation in other countries and consideration for US use.