Out of 66 total submissions, we selected winners from 4 contest categories:

Greatest Youth Appeal
Novel Products
Electronic Cigarettes
Funniest of Most Ironic

The image above includes our Grand Prize winners, Julie J. for her little cigar display photo from Fon Du Lac, WI (top left), and Emily B. from Ontario for her family smoking advertisement found in Las Vegas, NV (top right). Also pictured is one of our winners for Greatest Youth Appeal, Ashley R. for a Blu electronic cigarette advertisement under the counter near candy in Harrison, AR (bottom left). The bottom right image won an honorable mention in the Youth Appeal category and was photographed in Yelville, AR by JR F..

Looking for the other winning images? Find them here! You can also check out all 66 submissions along with other hard-hitting point of sale photos in our image gallery. Don’t forget to rate your favorites!

WHY DOES COUNTER TOBACCO HOST AN ANNUAL PHOTO CONTEST?

The Surgeon General has concluded that “advertising and promotional activities by tobacco companies have been shown to cause the onset and continuation of smoking among adolescents and young adults.” [1] The tobacco industry spends the majority of their marketing budget at the point of sale to promote its deadly products, spending about $1,000,000 an hour. [2]

Counter Tobacco is dedicated to providing tools and resources to counteract retail tobacco product marketing. The photo contest and image gallery expose the tactics used by the tobacco industry, helping to educate communities and especially youth, about the dangers of these marketing strategies. Educating and shining a light on the industry’s tactics is critical to building awareness and sparking policy change.

With the tobacco industry wielding its influence and dollars at the point of sale, policy changes at the federal, state, and local levels are critical. Learn more about counteracting retail tobacco products sale and marketing by exploring the rest of CounterTobacco.org.

Last updated October 11, 2023