Sample Essay - Topic: Final Thoughts on Argument

“Should Cigarette Companies Promote their Products to the Youth?”

Cigarette smoking has always been a subject of debate for many people all over the world. It has stimulated the mind in many ways especially the issue of whether cigarette companies promote their products to the youth. Smokers and non-smokers alike will suffer the consequences of decisions and attitudes of people revolving around this issue. Many health related issues will arise not acutely at first but will manifest at a later date. Does the delay of the appearance of health problems justify their actions? What will be the risks after 10 years when youth starts smoking before 18 years of age? One could claim that marketing cigarette products to the youth is simply too much to handle.

First let us examine what prompted cigarette companies to come up with this decision. “Younger adults are the only source of replacement smokers” (RJ Reynolds). This means to say that as people age – while smoking – signs and consequences of this decision will begin to show. As a result, they wouldn’t be as enthusiastic as they were when they started smoking. This is what many cigarette companies try to avoid. If they want to keep their business thriving and prospering, they need younger adults which will require brand new form of marketing.

True – from the industry’s point of view, this may just be the right thing to do. After all, they just mean business and this is nothing personal for them. Without overanalyzing and putting things under simple perspective, cigarette companies are just doing what they need to do to keep up with the current market.

But nothing justifies the consequences that will happen in the future. On the surface, this may be an acceptable proposition for many cigarette companies though on second thought they are just taking advantage of our youth – the hope of the future.

Why do teens smoke? "Kids are vulnerable to smoking because the transition to adulthood is fraught with stress, insecurity, and the need to be accepted by peers. If kids see smokers who they think are cool or look grown-up, they may strive for that image, too” (Lang and Marks). Judging from this, kids are innocent victims of the adult driven world. Cigarette companies know this vulnerability and weakness and this is the reason why they target this specific market. They know they can earn money from them more than they can from adults who know what they are doing and have other priorities in life already.

However, kids don’t realize they are vulnerable and weak. They often have these overly positive views about themselves. They often think they are invincible. But more than that, they are curious beings. Some kids start smoking not because they have weaker resolve about what’s right or wrong. They start because they are curious what it is like to have a taste of the smoke they often see. Before they realize it, they have already been hooked.

Many cigarette companies are only being practical and realistic and this is the same point of argument that they already lost. Selling something to the market only for financial profit and uncaring about the risks and other major consequences that smoking will result to is bad enough. But marketing it to the youth – taking advantage of their weakness and the largest naïve group in the world – is simply unacceptable.

“Among the 419,000 Americans who died from smoking in 1990, for example, 151,000 died of cancer” (National Cancer Policy Board). If this is the statistics 21 years ago, what then will the numbers be 21 years from now if cigarette smoking is promoted further to the youth? It is time for this industry to stop causing menace to the population’s health. It is simply not the case today anymore. What if the younger adults who started smoking today will no longer produce enough number of offspring in the future? Who then will they market their products for if the dangers of smoking manifest at a later date and affect reproduction?

It is therefore not right for manufacturing companies to promote their products to the younger population for whatever reason they can think of. Reduction, prevention and cessation of cigarette smoking can lead to better health, lifestyle and perhaps better economy in the near future. Manufacturing companies should then find some other means for them to do business without risking the health of many. Surely, they can find other business endeavor that will bring them monetary gain, prestige and success. It would mean that the world will become a better place to live in without smoke, without pollution and at least eradicating one risk factor for diseases.


Works Cited

RJ Reynolds. “The Importance of Young Adults.” 1998. Digital File.

“Taking Action to Reduce Tobacco Use.” 1998. Digital File

Lang, Susan and Beth Marks. “Teens and tobacco: a fatal attraction.” 1996. Digital File.