chhs.ca.govFlavors Hook Kids
“Flavors Hook Kids”
California Department of Public Health campaign (US-CA) launched 24 April 2018 telling parents and other adults how flavored tobacco and e-cigarettes, including JUUL-style pods, are marketed to teens. It ran in seven languages.
- Years
- 2018
- Country
- United States
- Topic
- TobaccoVaping
- Asks people to
- Never startSupport a policyTalk to someone
- Strategy
- Industry denormalization
- Channel
- OutdoorSocial (paid)TV
- Audience
- AdultsParentsParents and concerned adults; English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese and Tagalog.
Evidence
NoneUnknown
No outcome evaluation found. The launch release cited >80% of youth tobacco triers starting with a flavored product and 13.6% of California high-school students using tobacco in 2016.
Sponsor (who paid)
- California Department of Public Health, California Tobacco Control Program State local government, funder and creator
Credits (who made it)
- Duncan Channon Creative, 2018 source
Related campaigns
Sources
- CDPH news release NR18-022: New campaign targets tobacco industry's deceptive marketing to youth sponsor · 2018
- CHHS blog: New Campaign Targets Tobacco Industry's Deceptive Marketing to Youth sponsor · 2018
- Campaign US: Disturbing campaign by Duncan Channon aims to expose tobacco industry deception (Wayback) news · 2018
Research notes
US-CA. Exact channel mix not confirmed (TV/outdoor/digital assumed from typical CTCP flights; verify). The campaign preceded California's 2020 flavored-tobacco sales law (SB 793) and 2022 referendum; any link to policy support is unevaluated. Ad library search: "California Department of Public Health", "Tobacco Free CA", "Flavors Hook Kids". Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: Duncan Channon (Campaign US, 27 Apr 2018, via Wayback: '"Flavors Hook Kids" is new work by Duncan Channon for the California Tobacco Control Program', launched on TV, digital video, radio and OOH; credits list Anne Elisco-Lemme as creative director). Duncan Channon held CTCP's full-service (strategy, creative, media) agency-of-record contract from 2014 for up to five years (agency news page, via Wayback); a trade report (search result, not opened) puts that contract at about USD 75 million over five years and says the 2018 work was the first under a renewed five-year contract. In-language partners Acento and APartnership appear in search snippets only (not added).
Record cases/ca-flavors-hook-kids.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign