Adweek has reported that the FDA has picked six agencies — including Phoenix-based Riester, which has previously been involved in youth tobacco prevention advertising — to work on a new anti-smoking initiative, which together have a spend ceiling of $390 million over the next five years. Ending a bidding process that began in September 2011, Grey, Mullen, Draftfcb, Campbell-Ewald, American Legacy Foundation and Riester were chosen for the task.
The group of agencies will now be given assignments or will submit proposals in a competitive scenario.
The focus of the program will target teens with the aim of preventing smoking or getting them to stop while they’re still young. Unlike other more mass-market anti-smoking campaigns, the FDA, which has regulatory oversight of the tobacco industry, doesn’t want to demonize tobacco, sources said. Rather, the marketing will present a more positive image of life without tobacco.
