NIH Targets Hipsters in $5 Million Anti-Smoking Campaign

A $5 million anti-smoking campaign, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), targets hipsters, The Washington Post reports. The campaign is designed to reach young adults “focused on the alternative music scene, local artists and designers, and eclectic self expression.”

The programs recommends alternatives to smoke breaks, including “styling your sweet mustache” and listening to music “no one else has heard of,” the article notes. The campaign has been running since 2011, and includes social events, ads, T-shirts, posters and social media.

The campaign criticizes neoconservative political candidates for accepting major donations from the tobacco industry. It runs smoking cessation groups for social leaders such as bartenders and DJs, who write about their progress on a blog.

In a statement to the newspaper, the NIH said research from the program will improve approaches to messaging targeted to young adults. “This specific project addresses the prevention of tobacco-related diseases by developing a social marketing intervention to block tobacco industry marketing to young adults attending bars and nightclubs,” NIH said. “The project will evaluate the effects of the intervention as delivered to young adults in four cities compared to young adults with a similar smoking prevalence in four comparison communities.”

According to the NIH, the tobacco industry has invested millions of dollars in sophisticated marketing research on young adults. “Because of current restrictions on marketing to youth, young adults have become an even more important focus of tobacco marketing efforts, which often emphasize events at adult-only venues (bars, nightclubs and casinos), which are exempt from these restrictions,” the NIH stated.

Young adults ages 18-25 have the highest smoking prevalence of any age group. “All tobacco-related cancers are affected by preventing people from becoming long-term addicted smokers, and cessation by age 30 avoids nearly all the long term ill effects of smoking,” the NIH said.