THE biggest campaign against teenage smoking was launched by the Government yesterday in a celebrity restaurant.
Commercial marketing techniques and teenage role models will be used as part of the package, costing £3 million, to persuade 11- to 15-year-olds that smoking is not "cool".
Lady Cumberlege, a health minister, speaking at the launch in Planet Hollywood, London, said: "We all know that telling young children not to do something is likely to produce the opposite effect.
"They don't listen to speeches by politicians or even good advice from adults. But they do listen to people of their own age, and to their idols."
The programme follows publication of figures showing that the Department of Health has badly missed its target of reducing to six per cent the proportion of smokers in this age group.
Far from falling, it has risen to 12 per cent and the Royal College of Physicians warned last week that at least one million of today's teenagers will die prematurely unless the rising trend of smoking in youth can be halted.
Lady Cumberlege said it was difficult putting any message over to modern teenagers but commercial companies took on the challenge every day.
"If we are to be heard in a noisy market place, we need to borrow and adapt the techniques they use for selling products which youngsters see as supporting and defining their lifestyle."
Dr Aric Sigman, a TV doctor, said: "Smoking is not just a lifestyle - it's a drug which is fatal and addictive.
"We should say to youngsters, ΓÇÿIt's your body, it's your life', but encourage them to take personal responsibility, which is better than saying, ΓÇÿJust say no'."
The campaign, based around the slogan "respect yourself" will advertise in teenage magazines inviting readers to send for an information pack containing free offers from companies that already sell to teenagers.
The pack, presented in colourful style, features a number of celebrities and contains advice on how to give up or not get involved in smoking.
The campaign also includes advertising material for tobacconists and newsagents to help them keep within the law by refusing to sell cigarettes to the under-16s.
Some 450 young people start smoking every day, and the Government collects £108 million a year in taxation from cigarettes sold illegally to children.
The college said later that any attempt to tackle teenage smoking was welcome but £3 million was far short of the £108 million it estimated to be needed.
Sir Leslie Turnberg, college president, said: "Trying to reduce the amount of teenagers smoking with the resources currently available is like trying to melt an iceberg with a blowtorch - we need a Government-inspired flamethrower to start making an impact."
