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truth® Selects 14 Crew Members for 10th Annual National Summer Tour

7/8/2009

Diverse group of young people to educate peers about tobacco

Washington, DC; June 29, 2009 – truth^®, the national youth smoking prevention campaign from the American Legacy Foundation^®, recently selected 14 young adults from across the country to serve as crew members for its annual summer tour. More than 1,400 young people submitted applications for a spot on the tour and a chance to become involved in the life-saving cause of tobacco-use prevention. The 14 selected crew members represent a cross-section of the types of youth that the truth^® tour will encounter as it travels the country from late June to late August.

Most of these young adults have experienced the harmful effects of tobacco use in their own families, from asthma to illness from secondhand smoke to terminal cancer. They all share a passion to educate their peers in order to keep another generation from ever starting to smoke.

Every year, truth^® crews connect with more than 500,000 teens, allowing them to experience the truth^® campaign firsthand. This year, two crews and their signature orange “truth^® trucks” will make more than 60 stops across 25 states, as they travel to some of the season’s hottest teen-oriented events. One crew will spend the summer traveling with the Vans Warped Tour^®, an annual summer rock festival featuring upcoming bands as well as more well-known rock acts like Flogging Molly, 3OH!3, Bad Religion and We the Kings.

A second truth^® crew will appear at different venues including:

• AST Dew Tour, an action sports tour, features the top action-sports athletes in the world competing for the highly coveted Dew Cup in skateboarding, BMX and freestyle motocross. Previous champions include Nate Adams and Jamie Bestwick.
• ROCK THE BELLS 2009, an international hip hop festival featuring performances by leading artists including Nas, The Roots, Common and more.
• Select Simon Malls throughout the country. The Simon dTOUR Live (Rball) is one of the biggest teen mall tours in the country, featuring BMX bike demos, hot music acts and interactive games and contests outside these ever-popular teen destinations.
• truth^® will also make impromptu, unannounced appearances at popular teen-oriented events such as music events, skateparks, beaches and more in cities like New York and others.

The 2009 truth^® crew members are:

The truth^® crew members are talented and charismatic young adults who engage in peer-to-peer interaction with teens who are attending concerts and events. The fun and engaging atmosphere makes it easier for truth^® crew members to discuss tobacco issues in a non-preachy way. Most tour stops feature the distinctive orange truth^® truck and zone, which form a natural gathering place. In the zone, crew members hold fashion shows, dance contests and freestyle rap “battles”; teach DJ lessons through “Scratch Academy” (a group of DJs who school newcomers on the fundamentals of DJ’ing, scratching and mixing music); play games and distribute truth^{® “}gear” – fashionable and trendy items reflecting tobacco messages.

Prior to embarking on the truth^® summer tour, truth^® crew members received educational training in order to effectively discuss with young people the health risks of tobacco products. Substantiated research and the once-secret tobacco industry documents provide the framework for the factual information that the crew members share regarding the toll of tobacco-related disease and other tobacco-related topics that are relevant to teens.

This summer, truth^® crew members will also be part of a new effort by the truth^® campaign to rename the term “lung cancer” to “Big Tobacco Disease,” in response to the fact that 90% of lung cancer comes from Big Tobacco’s products. The Big Tobacco Disease effort kicked off on June 24 at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles with a free concert. “truth^®’s Live Playlist:  In Conjunction with imeem and powered by Mozes,” featured headlining, up-and-coming bands Escape The Fate, along with Sing It Loud and I Set My Friends On Fire. Teens at the event experienced elements of the truth^® campaign through arresting artistic displays using dynamic lighting and visual effects that bring tobacco facts and campaign elements to life. Signatures for a petition to rename lung cancer were collected at the event through wall-covering graffiti stations. In addition, truth^® debuted branded gear created specifically for the Big Tobacco Disease effort. Beyond the entertainment aspects of the event, the artistic displays, signature collection and gear allowed for a rich educational experience that reiterated key facts and messages about tobacco to the 1,000 teens who attended.

The summer program will be enhanced online at www.thetruth.com, which receives approximately 200,000 visitors per month. At the site, users can meet truth^® crew members who will be out on tour, view video blogs and photos from the field, find out where upcoming events will be taking place and view updates from tour stops. Users can also win free tickets to events online.

Recruiting and training of truth^® crew members was provided by GTM, the agency responsible for overseeing truth^® tour operations in conjunction with staff from the American Legacy Foundation.

Efforts like the tour are clearly working in helping achieve its broader goals:  in February 2009 a study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that the truth^® campaign was directly responsible for preventing 450,000 teens from starting to smoke between the years 2000 and 2004.

BACKGROUND ON THE truth^® CAMPAIGN

truth^®, launched in February 2000, is the largest national youth smoking prevention campaign and the only national campaign not directed by the tobacco industry. The campaign exposes the tactics of the tobacco industry, the truth about addiction and the health effects and social consequences of smoking. truth^® allows teens to make informed choices about tobacco use by giving them the facts about the industry and its products.

The American Legacy Foundation^® is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The foundation’s programs include truth^®, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth smoking; EX^®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use and a nationally renowned program of outreach to priority populations. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit http://www.americanlegacy.org/.

The American Legacy Foundation^® is equipped with a VideoLink ReadyCam™ television studio system, providing you with faster, easier access to the nation’s leading tobacco prevention and cessation experts. From this in-house broadcast studio, Legacy can offer immediate access to its experts to comment on breaking news, new research publications, or any news related to youth smoking prevention, adult quit smoking programs, or any issue related to smoking. The studio is connected directly to the Vyvx fiber network and is always available for live or pre-taped interviews. To arrange an interview using the ReadyCam, please contact Julia Cartwright at 202-454-5596.

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Contact: Patricia McLaughlin, 202-454-5560, pmclaughlin@americanlegacy.org