PROJECT WATCH

Project WATCH (Working Against Tobacco Companies' Harm) has been working to decrease commercial tobacco industry influence in Minnesota since 2010. The program is currently funded through a grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield Center for Prevention and was previously funded by ClearWay Minnesota.

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Project WATCH focuses on identifying and tracking commercial tobacco industry marketing tactics such as price promotions, contests, product launches and rebranding initiatives. This program also focuses on educating city, county, state and school decision-makers about commercial tobacco control best practices and providing technical assistance to commercial tobacco control partners across the state.

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Since 2010, Project WATCH has collected almost 10,000 commercial tobacco industry direct mail marketing pieces and more than 36,000 commercial tobacco industry emails. This information is presented locally and nationally through in-person presentations, conferences, webinars and a quarterly newsletter. Project results were also published in the peer-reviewed journal Tobacco Control.