FDA Launches "The Real Cost" Anti-tobacco Campaign Next Week

The Food and Drug Administration's first youth tobacco prevention campaign will be launching nationally in one week in a federal effort to curb tobacco product use in underage teens.

The campaign, coined "The Real Cost," will broadcast it's anti-tobacco message across multiple media platforms including TV, radio, print, and online. You can even find samples of the ads, like the video above, on the FDA's YouTube channel.

According to the FDA, "The Real Cost" is intended to target youth 12-17 years of age who are open to smoking or are already experimenting with tobacco products. "Experimenting" youths are considered a teen under 17 who has already smoked between 1 and 99 cigarettes and is at risk of becoming a regular user. According to a 2011 National Youth Tobacco Survey, these "at risk" individuals total nearly 10 million and may one day be one of the 480,000 tobacco related deaths each year. "The Real Cost" was devised to help curb these numbers using educational messages that highlight the consequences of cigarette smoking that youth would be concerned about.

So what, according to the FDA, would the youth of America be concerned about? Ads revealed so far address issues such as early skin damage, tooth loss, and "loss of control due to addition." It has even been revealed that ads will be ran that focus on the negative effects of menthol cigarettes, as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has found that young adults tend to prefer them.

"The Real Cost" campaign is costing an estimated $115 million, but will be funded with tobacco industry user fees. It is also a small price to pay compared to the $289 billion the FDA says tobacco related illnesses cost the healthcare system each year.

"The Real Cost" anti-tobacco campaign begins February 11 and is scheduled to last for at least a year. Still, the FDA hopes to evaluate the campaign's success based upon whether or not they meet their expected goal of decreasing the number of "at risk" smokers by at least 300,000 in three years.