Tobacco Industry Smoking Prevention Ads Proven Ineffective A recently released study found that the tobacco industry's smoking prevention ads, are ineffective, at the very least, and the ads were found to increase the likelihood that teens will pick up the life-threatening habit in the future. Impact of Televised Tobacco Industry Smoking Prevention Advertising on Youth Smoking-Related Beliefs, Intentions and Behavior, to be published in the December issue of the American Journal of Public Health, examines the specific effects of tobacco industry "prevention" advertising and finds that the ads provide no benefit to youth, but rather are associated with stronger intentions by teens to smoke in the future. Youth exposure to industry parent-targeted prevention ads was actually found to be associated with a greater likelihood of smoking. American Legacy Foundation President and CEO, Cheryl Healton, Dr.P.H., has called for Philip Morris to take the advertising off the air indicating that while the industry claims to be helping our nation's youth by discouraging smoking, this study indicates this claim may be untrue. Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell, who also serves as the foundation's board chair, along with other attorneys general from across the nation, will review the research to determine whether the advertising violates the Master Settlement Agreement's prohibition on youth targeting.