The Real Cost Campaign
FDA’s award-winning public education campaign, “The Real Cost,” recognizes its 10th anniversary and continues to prevent youth from starting using tobacco products. The e-cigarette and cigarette prevention campaigns focus on educating youth about the negative health effects and risks of vaping and smoking.
“The Real Cost” campaign was developed based on extensive research and uses a mix of cost-effective marketing and advertising tactics across teen-relevant communication channels to reach youth audiences.
Learn more about “The Real Cost” campaign from FDA’s Grand Rounds: The Real Cost Campaign: A Decade of Preventing Youth Tobacco.
Current Campaigns
Past Campaigns and Resources
“The Real Cost” Campaign Publications
- Evaluating The Real Cost Digital and Social Media Campaign: Longitudinal Effects of Campaign Exposure on E-cigarette Beliefs (2024)
- Adolescent Risk Perceptions of ENDS Use: Room for Change in Tobacco Education (2022)
- Effects of a National Campaign on Youth Beliefs and Perceptions About Electronic Cigarettes and Smoking (2022)
- The Impact of Social Media Use and Gaming on Initiation of Smokeless Tobacco Use Among Rural Male Youth (2022)
- “The Real Cost” Smokeless Campaign: Changes in Beliefs About Smokeless Tobacco Among Rural Boys, a Longitudinal Randomized Controlled Field Trial (2021)
- Perceived Message Effectiveness and Campaign-Targeted Beliefs: Evidence of Reciprocal Effects in Youth Tobacco Prevention (2020)
- Impact of The Real Cost Media Campaign on Youth Smoking Initiation (2019)
- The Case and Context for “The Real Cost” Campaign (2019)
- Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of The Real Cost Campaign’s Effect on Smoking Prevention (2018)
- Association Between The Real Cost Media Campaign and Smoking Initiation Among Youths — United States, 2014–2016 (2017)