BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — Techno artist Moby and Canadian pop boy band b4-4 will head a new anti-smoking campaign aimed at teens, the European Union announced.
Public Health Commissioner David Byrne said he hoped the new TV ads, which will be seen across the 15-nation EU and other European countries, would persuade Europe's youths to "feel free to say no" to cigarettes.
"Tobacco multinationals are targeting our kids," Byrne told reporters Friday. "It is well-known that eight out of 10 people who smoke start when they are between 12 and 18 years old. Once they are hooked on nicotine, these people no longer have a choice."
The ads will air on MTV Europe and national television networks. They'll also be shown in 5,000 theaters when "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" opens this Friday.
Byrne said about 15 pop groups or artists are taking part in the "feel free to say no" campaign. He said it coincides with a new EU proposal that aims to ban all tobacco advertising on television, radio, in magazines and on the Internet.
IN NEW YORK CITY, Emil Wilbekin, editor in chief at Vibe magazine, has been honored by the music industry charity LIFEbeat for his work to fight AIDS.
Wilbekin was lauded at a breakfast Thursday attended by Arista President L.A. Reid and songwriter Denise Rich, who underwrote the event.
Wilbekin, who was recently named to LIFEbeat's board of directors, says he wants the organization to do more of the outreach programs that it does at concerts and other music events.
"In urban music, we have street teams that go and put up fliers and hand out CDs. I would like people to start handing out condoms, too," he said.
He was to have received a plaque from hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. But because of the death of Jason Mizell of Run DMC, Simmons, whose brother Joseph "Run" Simmons is in the group, bowed out.
Wilbekin called for a moment of silence in Mizell's honor. Mizell was shot to death in Queens Wednesday night.
On the Net: Moby Web site: www.moby.com/
b4-4 Web site: www.b4-4.com/
LIFEbeat Web site: www.lifebeat.org