Grab Your Skateboard, Gaming Console, Or Concert Ticket: truth® Youth Smoking Prevention Campaign Kicks Off Annual Summer Tour

WASHINGTON, June 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Video gamers, roller coaster riders, skateboarders and music lovers across the country will be able to experience the fun and lifesaving messages of the nation's largest youth smoking prevention campaign. truth will begin its 13th annual nationwide summer tour on Saturday, June 16 in Salt Lake City, with its first stop on the Vans Warped Tour.

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Traveling throughout the United States this summer, the truth tour will hold more than 80 events, educating thousands of teens about tobacco use. The four month-long tour will eventually visit more than 60 cities and towns in 28 states.

truth's crew of young adult "tour riders" will interact with teens across the country at local stops of popular summer music tours, gaming and sporting events – educating them about the marketing tactics of the tobacco industry and the health effects, addictiveness and social consequences of tobacco use.

Every year, the truth riders connect with more than 450,000 teens, allowing teens to experience the truth campaign first-hand. This year, tour riders and their signature orange "truth truck" will travel to some of the season's hottest teen and young adult-oriented events. The tour will make some first-ever stops - in Little Rock, Ark.; Agawam, Mass.; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Saratoga, N.Y.

"Just this past March, the Surgeon General herself called for our nation to focus on the issue of youth smoking and finally solve this ongoing public health problem," said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, president and CEO of Legacy^®, the national public health foundation that directs and funds the truth campaign. "The summer tour serves as a vital part of our strategy to reach as many young people as we can and 'inoculate' them against using tobacco. Our dynamic tour riders, fun-filled activities, and fashionable gear handouts together make the truth zone a 'non-stop party.' But it's a party and an ongoing conversation with teens that is saving lives. We welcome young people across the country to see us in action at stops in their community or follow us online at thetruth.com to get a 'virtual tour experience.'"  

The March 2012 Surgeon General's Report – Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults – detailed the scope of the youth tobacco problem in the United States and offered up solutions and proven strategies that keep teens from smoking. The truth campaign was cited several times in the report as an effective public health intervention in keeping teenagers from smoking. 

Tour Events:

Music, gaming and sports are common passions for teens and young people. Tour stops this year will include popular events relating to these typical youth interests. This year's crew of tour riders and two DJs 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 All Time Low, Breathe Carolina, New Found Glory and We the Kings
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD presents the Birdhouse Left Coast Tour 2012 – skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and his Birdhouse Skateboards team will hit skateparks along the West Coast, including a big vert demo in Sacramento, Calif.
• Six Flags – the world's largest regional theme park company with 19 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada; the truth crew will appear at parks in Vallejo and Valencia, Calif.; San Antonio; Gurnee, Ill.; Eureka, Mo.; Austell, Ga.; Bowie, Md.; Agawam, Mass.; and Jackson, N.J.
• Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival – now in its third year, this touring music and lifestyle festival's attendance continues to grow; classic acts such as Shinedown, Godsmack, Staind, Papa Roach and Adelitas Way will grace the main stage
• Gen Con Indy 2012 (Indianapolis) – Gen Con Indy is the largest consumer hobby, fantasy, sci-fi and adventure game convention in North America; this year, on August 16-19 at the Indiana Convention Center, Gen Con will celebrate its 45th anniversary inviting tens of thousands of gamers to attend from across the globe in what is shaping up-to-be the largest event in the show's history
• New York Comic Con (NYCC) – the East Coast's biggest and most exciting popular culture convention from October 11-14, 2012

The truth.com and online

For the summer 2012 tour, the truth website will continue to serve as a 'virtual tour experience'.

• The site features videos, photos from the tour zone and glimpses of life on the road.
• A Twitter feed features daily updates from each tour stop.
• Teens can also play games relating to tobacco-related facts, and get free downloads of posters.
• A new truth Facebook page will focus strictly on the Vans Warped Tour, allowing teens to learn more about the music festival itself and truth's presence on the festival. The page will also include an online application replicating the zone's "DoomGram" experience. (See below.)
• Free tickets to Vans Warped Tour stops can be won online via a Facebook sweepstakes.
• truth also maintains separate sites at online networks flickr and YouTube, which will all incorporate tour-related elements and band interviews in front of the truth zone.

truth Tour Zone and Riders 2012

A musician, a former college homecoming queen and a professional stuntman are just some of the dynamic tour riders selected to travel with truth this summer. 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, bracelets, skateboard decks and shorts. Zone visitors can also play "DoomGram," an interactive experience that highlights tobacco facts and lets visitors record a video or photo as a memento of their zone visit. An online application replicating the zone experience will be hosted on Facebook.

The fun and engaging atmosphere in the zone makes it easier for truth tour riders to discuss tobacco issues in a non-preachy way. Jonathan Carrillo, a returning tour rider from Orlando, Fla., said he is excited about representing an important campaign he is passionate about. "I hope to bring knowledge to teens about the hazards of tobacco use and the lasting effect it can have on their lives and their futures. Many teens and young people simply do not see or still don't know the long-term damage tobacco use causes. I'm here to enlighten them!"

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

Gaming/Sporting Tour:  

truth Background

truth 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 May 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 roughly $1.9 billion and possibly up to $5.4 billion in medical care costs to society.

Tour Background

For the summer 2012 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 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/
• For more information on Six Flags, visit http://www.sixflags.com/national/index.aspx
• For more information on Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival, visit http://rockstaruproar.com/
• For more information on Gen Con Indy, visit http://www.gencon.com/2012/indy/default.aspx
• For more information on New York Comic Con, visit www.NewYorkComicCon.com

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.

truth^® 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 gives teens facts and information about the tobacco industry and its products, allowing them to make their own informed choices about tobacco use. Research-proven as an effective public health intervention, the campaign is credited with keeping hundreds of thousands of teens from starting to smoke. To learn more, visit www.thetruth.com. truth is directed and funded by Legacy, a national public health foundation located in Washington, D.C. 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. To learn more about Legacy's life-saving programs, visit www.LegacyForHealth.org.

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SOURCE Legacy