IABC’S Washington Chapter Honors Tobacco-Free Kids With 1998 Silver Inkell Award Of Excellence
Program Designed to Alter the Tobacco Environment in America Earns Further Recognition
September 14, 1998
Washington, DC - The Washington, DC chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) has awarded the CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS a 1998 Silver Inkwell Award of Excellence for the ongoing public affairs campaign, “Changing the Tobacco Environment in America.” This is the first time a Silver Inkwell has been bestowed in the public affairs category. The CAMPAIGN’s public affairs program was designed to raise awareness of the magnitude of youth tobacco use, increase public concern over the epidemic and expand the level of tobacco control activism throughout the United States. Much of the activities focused on pushing toward comprehensive national tobacco control legislation. The CAMPAIGN implemented a strategic communications plan that resulted in greater public concern over tobacco and continues to raise awareness for the need for action to protect kids from the deadly allure of tobacco. “This campaign demonstrates the need to protect kids from tobacco products,” said Bill Novelli, CAMPAIGN president. “The tobacco industry cannot ignore the growing resentment of its efforts to target America’s kids as its next generation of customers.” Novelli, a pioneer in social marketing, is the co-founder and former president of Porter/Novelli, the fourth largest public relations agency in the United States. The Silver Inkwell Award symbolizes a formal acknowledgment that an organization meets IABC’s highest standards for communications professionals. Winners represent media companies, corporations, small businesses and nonprofit associations. Winning entries in each of the 86 categories were announced at an awards ceremony last Thursday night in Arlington, Virginia. IABC has more than 12,500 members worldwide. The award-winning communications program was designed by CAMPAIGN Communications Director Kathryn Kahler Vose, in conjunction with Chlopak, Leonard, Schecter & Associates. Other recent citations for the CAMPAIGN’s public affairs activities include an Association For Women in Communication’s 1998 Clarion Award and the American Medical Association’s Crystal Medallion Award for Best Consumer Campaign for “Kick Butts Day 1997.” The Washington, DC-based CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS is the largest initiative ever undertaken to decrease youth tobacco use in the United States. Its mandate is to focus the nation’s attention and action on keeping tobacco marketing from seducing children and making tobacco less accessible to kids. The CAMPAIGN was founded in September, 1995.