Coming to a City Near You: Music, Fashion, a Big Orange Truck...and Life-Saving Messages

Coming to a City Near You: Music, Fashion, a Big Orange Truck...and Life-Saving Messages

truth® youth smoking prevention campaign kicks off annual summer tour

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- truth, the nation's largest smoking prevention campaign for youth, will begin its 12th annual nationwide summer tour on Friday, June 24, with a stop in Dallas, Texas. Traveling throughout the United States this summer, truth continues its life-saving mission to educate young people about the health effects, addictiveness and social consequences of tobacco use. Young adult truth "tour riders"will interact with teens across the country at local stops of popular summer music tours and sporting events.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101101/DC86294LOGO)

Every year, the truth ridersconnect with more than 500,000 teens, allowing teens to experience the truth campaign first-hand. This year, tour riders and their signature orange "truth truck" will make more than 50 stops across 29 states, as they travel to some of the season's hottest teen-oriented events. The tour will also make some first-ever stops - in Council Bluffs, Iowa; Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia.

This year's crew of seven tour riders and a DJ will appear at:

-- Vans Warped Tour - an annual summer music festival featuring upcoming
bands as well as more well-known rock and punk acts, including Less Than
Jake, Relient K, A Day to Remember and - at select tour stops - 3OH!3,
Sum 41 and Paramore.
-- Quiksilver Presents Birdhouse Skateboards MIAtoNYC Tour powered by Tech
Deck - Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and his Birdhouse Skateboards team
showcase skatepark street skating at skateparks across the country, as
well as spectacular halfpipe events in Virginia Beach and New York City.
-- Taste of Chicago - Every summer since 1980, Chicago's Grant Park has
been home to the world's largest food festival. Showcasing the diversity
of Chicago's dining community, the festival serves up a delicious array
of food complemented by music and family activities.

"For thousands of teens across the United States, seeing the truth riders in action at the Vans Warped Tour or other events has become a rite of summer," said Cheryl G. Healton, Dr. P.H., president and CEO of Legacy, the national public health foundation that directs and funds the truth campaign. "The tour allows teens to see and hear from the truth campaign up close and in-person, and it's a key part of our strategy to be in environments where teens gather during the summer. For those teens who cannot make it out to a tour stop, we've also boosted our Web presence on thetruth.com so that teens can get a 'virtual tour experience,' and be able to follow our riders and learn from them as they travel the country."

The truth.comFor the summer 2011 tour, the truth website will feature daily "slices of life" from the tour. At the site, which receives approximately 60,000 visitors each month, teens can meet each of the tour riders and learn about their backgrounds. Interactive elements will allow teens to view videos produced in the field by the tour riders, see photos from the truth zone and the tour, and follow a Twitter feed, featuring daily updates from each tour stop. Free tickets to Vans Warped Tour stops can be won online via contests on thetruth.com, Facebook, and Twitter. Teens can also play games relating to tobacco-related facts, and get free downloads of truth's new mobile game, called Night of the Gummies. The game plays off a tobacco-related fact: according to tobacco industry documents, in 1997 a Big Tobacco executive said under oath that he believed Gummy Bears were addictive like cigarettes.

truth also maintains separate sites at online networks like Facebook, MySpace and MyYearbook, as well as dedicated flickr and YouTube channels, which will all incorporate tour-related elements.

truth Tour Riders 2011 Selected from a national pool of applicants, the truth tour riders are talented and charismatic young adults that engage in peer-to-peer interaction with teens attending concerts and events. The tour stops feature the distinctive orange truth truck and zone, which forms a natural gathering place. In the zone, crew members hold fashion shows and dance contests; 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. This year's gear will include t-shirts, socks and truth-brandedskate decks. The fun and engaging atmosphere in the zone makes it easier for truth tour riders to discuss tobacco issues in a non-preachy way.

This year's truth tour riders and their hometowns include:

Tour Riders 2011: Hometown Personal Detail
Gerard Fabiano Belleville, NJ Aspires to be a high school teacher
Designs her own clothing and created a
Davina McKnight Lithonia, GA youth empowerment group
Born in Colombia and emigrated to the
United States at age 12; uncle died
Stephanie Mualim Miami, FL from cancer
Returning truth tour rider; toured the
country in 2010 with the Vans Warped
Anna Santayana Fairfax, VA Tour
Graduate of the United Stuntmens
Russel Sliwinski Milwaukee, WI Association stunt school
Plays clarinet and guitar; has seen
Maria Venegas Gridley, CA family members suffer from tobacco use
Cast member on MTV's "The Real World
Callie Walker Pasadena, TX XXIII: Washington, D.C."

truth Backgroundtruth is a multidimensional campaign, featuring not only grassroots outreach through summer tours but also advertising, websites and interactive elements, and events. A growing body of research has confirmed the efficacy of the truth campaign in changing teens' attitudes and behaviors toward smoking. A study published in the April 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM) found that truth was directly responsible for keeping 450,000 teens from starting to smoke during its first four years, from 2000 to 2004. A second paper in that same publication found that the campaign not only paid for itself in its first two years, but also saved between $1.9 and $5.4 billion in medical care costs to society.

Tour Background For the summer 2011 program, Arnold Worldwide/Boston is responsible for the design of the truth zone and the summer truth gear, and Mobile Media Enterprises of Atlanta provides all transportation and asset support.

For more information on the Vans Warped Tour, visit www.vanswarpedtour.com.For more information on the Tony Hawk tour, visit http://birdhouseskateboards.com/2011tour/. For more information on Taste of Chicago, visit http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en/supporting_narrative/events___special_events/special_events/park_district/Taste_of_Chicago.html.

BACKGROUND ON THE truth CAMPAIGNtruth, 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.

Legacy 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. Legacy 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 www.legacyforhealth.org.

SOURCE The truth Campaign

Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101101/DC86294LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
The truth Campaign

CONTACT: Patricia McLaughlin, Legacy, +1-202-454-5560, pmlaughlin@legacyforhealth.org

Web Site: http://www.thetruth.com

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