SOS Launches The Big Pitch Film Festival 2012

Stamp Out Smoking is pleased to introduce "The Big Pitch Film Festival," which will kick off this month. Now in its ninth year, the contest formerly known as The Big Pitch Drama Contest invites middle, junior and high school students in Arkansas to film, star in and produce their own tobacco-free TV commercials. Schools can win money to purchase new video equipment and the winning ad may be aired statewide.

Click here to download materials for the 2012 contest.

Essay/Poetry Contest Results

More than 1,600 entries were submitted for the Stamp Out Smoking 2011 Essay and Poetry Contest. This year’s theme, “My Future is Clear,” asked Arkansas students to write an entry explaining what they would do to make the world tobacco-free by 2030. By asking students to write about their vision for a tobacco-free future, SOS hopes to promote a healthier, cleaner future for youth and their communities by promoting youth tobacco prevention in schools and at home.

Click here to see the winners.

Project Prevent Results

The SOS Project Prevent contest challenged students in middle, junior and high school to actively and voluntarily participate in the first Tobacco Prevention Day by conducting and filming a performance in their schools. Through peer-to-peer involvement, participants joined forces in the fight against tobacco and helped spread the word through their classrooms, communities and social media about how they would stand up to Big Tobacco.

Click here to see all entries.

Five video submissions featuring more than 150 participants were received from students that took a stand against Big Tobacco. With the help of teachers and parents, these students came together to showcase their tobacco-free attitudes and talents and put them into action. Team “ZZQ” from Benton Middle School won first place, receiving the most votes on SOSProjectPrevent.com. Their video was created by a team of three members but included over 63 students. SOS awarded each participant a T-shirt for their hard work. In addition, Benton Middle School received a banner claiming their title, "King of Project Prevent".

To watch the winning video click here.

PHILIP MORRIS AND R.J. REYNOLDS SETTLE WITH JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OVER TOBACCO-INDUSTRY DOCUMENT DATABASES

On Wednesday, December 14, 2011, the Justice Department announced that the nation's two biggest tobacco companies, Philip Morris USA Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., agreed to pay $6.25 million to support the country's largest online collection of internal tobacco industry documents. This settlement resolves a dispute that began in 2006 over an online document database. The U.S. District Court in Washington is in a long-standing case against the industry regarding the database. The judge ruled that the companies had suppressed documents in order to deceive people about the health effects of smoking and nicotine addiction, marketed to youth, and changed cigarette designs to increase addiction.

Click here to read the full story.

TPCP EARNS NATIONAL AND LOCAL AWARDS

On December 15, 2011, the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) recognized TPCP’s Stamp Out Smoking campaign for outstanding creative and media materials. There were more than 230 entries in the 2011 contest, and SOS landed five national awards. On October 20, Stamp Out Smoking was also awarded five 2011 Bronze Quill awards during the Arkansas Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators' annual awards ceremony. Congratulations to the TPCP staff on this recognition of their excellent work!

Click here to view Stamp Out Smoking’s winning submissions.

LOCAL TOBACCO CONTROL PARTNERS APPLAUD STICKY FINGERZ’ NEW SMOKE-FREE STATUS

On Friday, October 14, tobacco control advocates met for lunch at Sticky Fingerz restaurant in downtown Little Rock in celebration and support of the management’s adoption of a 100 percent smoke-free workplace policy in September. Katherine Donald, Executive Director of Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas, organized the event and presented the manager, Suzon Awbrey, with a certificate to applaud its decision to protect the health of its workers and patrons.

Click here to read more.

Coalition and Grantee Calendar of Events

TPCP WELCOMES NEW STAFF MEMBERS

TPCP is pleased to welcome three new employees: Shalon Bogard, Program Field Audit Specialist; Monique Monanu, Health Program Specialist-Administration; and Debbie Rushing, Section Chief for State & Community Interventions.

Click here to learn more about Shalon, Monique and Debbie.