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Only five PR firms have joined the Quit Big Tobacco Campaign and pledged not to represent tobacco and e-cigarette clients.
Ketchum, Golin, Fenton, Finn Partners and Hager Sharp are the PR firms that signed the pledge, according to the QTC website.
MDC Partners (parent of Allison + Partners, Sloane & Co, KWT Global and Hunter PR) also is on the list.
Organized by New York-based Vital Strategies, global public health organization, QBTC takes aim at Big Tobacco (Altria, Philip Morris International, Reynolds American and Imperial Tobacco) and its promotion of e-cigarettes to counter the decline in smoking.
Big Tobacco, according to QBTC, spends $1M per hour in the US to replenish its customer base as half of smokers die from smoking. "The effort is driving a new epidemic of vaping among youth, using influencer marketing, kid-friendly flavors and TV ads."
While the smoking rate for teenagers is below five percent, the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions says vaping rose almost 80 percent among high school students from 2017 to 2018.
The QBTC received a major boost on April 30 as CVS Health, which stopped selling cigarettes in its stores five years ago, signed the pledge and will not work with PR firms and ad agencies that represent tobacco and e-cigarette companies.
To negotiate the demands of media, investors, regulators and the market, communicators to make sure that their narrative they construct is defensible every stop of the way.
In a health landscape crowded with claims, brands earn trust by pairing credible proof with human stories, cultural relevance, and empowerment.
Binaytara, the Bellevue, WA-based nonprofit dedicated to improving access to cancer care and fostering scientific research, has appointed FINN Partners as its global PR firm.
Jeffrey Sturchio is joining Finn Partners’ health policy and impact group as senior advisor to counsel clients on the issues shaping global health and innovation access.
A breakthrough is not successful merely because it works. It succeeds when people and health systems can actually use it.
