NurseWeek

Teens tilt ears toward anti-tobacco cartoon bird

By Cathryn Domrose
October 2, 2000


	You've read the article. Now tell us what you think. Related sites Texas Department of Health Teens and Tobacco: Fact Not Fiction

Austin. In response to Joe Camel and other youthful images presented by the tobacco industry, the Texas Department of Health is introducing the Duck, a hip-talking animated character in sunglasses and a baseball cap whose message is, "Tobacco is foul."

The Duck, who delivers his anti-smoking messages in Spanish and English, will be featured in television, radio and billboard ads in four areas around southeast Texas: Houston-Galveston, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Tyler-Longview and Bryan-College Station.

An Austin media company created the character with help from 100 teens, mostly from the southeast area. The campaign began Sept. 25.

So far the Duck is a hit with the sixth- and seventh-graders he is supposed to reach, said Marcus Cooper, spokesman for the health department. "They like the fact that he’s not preaching to them, that the Duck is kind of like an equal or a peer and that the Duck is an activist."

The $4 million pilot program will run until August, Cooper said, with the Duck appearing at rallies and community events to celebrate the Great American Smokeout Nov. 16. If the program is a success, the Duck could be appearing in other parts of the state, he said.

The campaign is funded with money from a $17 billion settlement Texas reached with the tobacco industry in 1998, after the state sued to recover money spent on ailing smokers.