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40 CHAPTER 2 ■ Reducing Tobacco Use in the United States

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BOX 2-1 A Chronology of truth Campaigns (continued)
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• Infect truth (2006 update) called attention to the marketing tactics and
health consequences of the tobacco industry in such a way as to “infect”
people with that knowledge and encourage active peer-to-peer participa-
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tion. Infect marked the debut of truth on popular social networking sites
like MySpace.
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• truth documentary phase II (2007) built on the approach of truth ®
documentary to continue to highlight the absurdity of statements found in
tobacco industry documents.
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• The Sunny Side of truth (2008) is a tongue-in-cheek, darkly humorous
song and dance that takes on tobacco industry words and actions. The
campaign unleashes animation, music, dancing, and cartoons to reveal the
“sunny side” of tobacco use and the tobacco industry.

Web and Interactive Elements
Social media and new technologies play an important role in how today’s teens
live, play, and work. The truth® Web site, www.thetruth.com, has distinct inter-
active elements designed to engage and amuse teens, while sharing important
information about tobacco use.
Applications on the site allow teens to interact with each other and share infor-
mation related to tobacco and truth®. Regular features of the site include games;
interactive polls related to facts about tobacco; embedded videos of current truth®
TV ads; and such downloadable items as posters, computer desktop kits, desktop
wallpaper, and buddy icons. For example, an animated feature called “The Useful
Cigarette” allowed visitors to point and click at an animated cigarette to learn how
ingredients found in cigarettes and cigarette smoke can also be found in common
household products such as pest repellant, floor wipes, and nail polish remover.
In addition to the main Web site, truth® homepages on popular social net-
working sites carry items such as e-mail cards, downloadable wallpapers, buddy
icons, and screen savers. Having a presence on the social networking sites allows
truth® to spread its messages quickly and economically throughout the teen
community. The impact of the social networking sites on driving traffic back to
the main Web site has been substantial, with thetruth.com experiencing its best
sustained traffic.