Two months, 87,840 daily prizes. All you have to do is send a simple text message or enter online and you could win TVs, MP3 players, grills, navigation systems, cameras, DVD players—even a car. The catch? You must be a Marlboro user—inhaling or chewing products that can kill you.
If you don't think a chance at a new TV is worth your life, you should be OUTRAGED at Marlboro's new "Prize A Minute" campaign to hook new and old users alike.
Marlboro began their latest OUTRAGE on June 1, advertising in stores and online that consumers can register at
www.FlavorChase.com, get a pin number, and begin entering daily via internet or text message for chances to win prizes through July 31.
The Marlboro contest sweepstakes at FlavorChase.com requires either a 9-digit code from a qualifying tobacco product or a statement upon registration that you are a smoker or smokeless tobacco user. Know what that means? It means that you need to be a tobacco user to "reap the benefits" of this contest. In turn, Marlboro is reaping the cash you'll spend on their products and the Reaper called Grim may be a bit busier, thanks to "Prize A Minute."
Through a contest/campaign of such grand proportions—$5 million given away in prizes—Hoosier teens should consider themselves targeted, as the contest specifically picks out smokeless tobacco users in Texas, Georgia, and Indiana. And, with such giveaways as MP3 players, TVs, and cameras, it is doubtful Marlboro had senior citizens in mind.
Remember: The tobacco industry spends an estimated $131 billion a year on advertising and marketing—that's more than $35.9 million a day! Marlboro is the most heavily advertised cigarette brand in the world, followed by Camel and Newport. These three brands are also the most poplar among youth. Coincidence? No way!
If you're OUTRAGED at Marlboro's use of money and prizes to tempt people towards their products and website, here's what you can do:
• Send a letter your local legislator detailing just how dangerous this type of tobacco promotion can be. Visit
http://www.in.gov/apps/sos/legislator/search/ for a list of legislators or visit
http://voice.tv/ContactYourLegislator.aspx for more information on contacting your legislator.
• Send a letter to Phillip Morris and let them know that:
- All of their hardest work and strategic efforts to get YOU to smoke have not and will not work. You will remain tobacco free.
- You will do whatever you can to combat the use of tobacco in your hometown and your state because you know the truth—that tobacco kills.
Philip Morris USA
Consumer Response Center
P.O. Box 26603
Richmond, Virginia 23261