AMERICAN LEGACY FOUNDATION® ANNOUNCES CONSOLIDATION OF truth® ADVERTISING CREATIVE

12/13/2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The American Legacy Foundation^® announced today that - for financial reasons - it will consolidate the advertising efforts for the truth^® youth smoking prevention campaign solely with Arnold Worldwide, effective in 2008. Today's announcement follows seven years of a very successful partnership between the foundation, Arnold, and Crispin Porter + Bogusky (CP+B) -- a partnership that yielded life-saving and award-winning youth smoking prevention efforts. The Foundation is hopeful that funding for the campaign will return to higher levels in the future allowing a resumption of a working arrangement with both Arnold and CP+B.

Since its inception the truth^® campaign has saved hundreds of thousands of lives and is the only proven-effective national youth smoking campaign. For some time now, the Foundation has acknowledged its very real funding challenges. The tobacco industry spends $36 million per day on marketing efforts in the U.S. alone, which is more than the annual budget of the truth^® campaign. In this climate of declining funds, the Foundation was forced to consolidate the creative assignment for its youth prevention efforts.

The Foundation applauds the partnership between Arnold and CP+B as a terrific agency model in helping the foundation achieve its very important goals. Through the life of the partnership, the truth^® campaign has won more than 300 awards for advertising efficacy: Clios, Webbys, two Emmys and three Effie awards, including the Grand Effie in 2003. truth^® has also been lauded by leading Federal and state public health officials, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department on Health and Human Services and former President George Bush.

Above all else, truth^® has been proven to save lives. Research has found that the truth^® campaign accelerated the decline in youth smoking rates between 2000-2002. Twenty-two percent of the overall decline in youth smoking these years is attributable directly to the truth® campaign, according to research published in the March 2005 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

"Our partnership with the two agencies has led to the public health success story that is the truth^® campaign," said Cheryl G. Healton, Dr. P.H., the foundation's President and CEO. "Our team at CP+B was an integral part of that story. Unfortunately, we had to make a very tough decision based on our fiscal realities. We have the highest respect for our friends and colleagues at CP+B; their creative vision and true commitment to this important cause helped fuel our award-winning and effective work. We wish the agency and our colleagues the very best in their future endeavors."

"The work we have accomplished together on truth^® has been nothing short of groundbreaking," said Jeff Hicks, President/CEO and Partner with CP+B. "Research shows that the campaign's effect resulted in 300,000 fewer smokers in its first two years alone, so the awards are nice but saving lives is our best reward. We're disappointed, but fully support the decision and are hopeful that the foundation’s funding will return to levels allowing it to resume the partnership."

"Through our partnership with Crispin, we have together accomplished a tremendous amount in addressing the issue of youth smoking," said Fran Kelly, CEO of Arnold Worldwide. "The agency has been a great partner and we will miss working with them on a daily basis. But we are excited about the next chapter of truth^® and having continued success with the American Legacy Foundation on this vitally important campaign."

The American Legacy Foundation^® is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The foundation’s programs include truth^®, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth smoking; EX^®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use; and a nationally-renowned program of outreach to priority populations. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit www.americanlegacy.org.

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Contact: Julia Cartwright, 202-550-2501(c), (202) 454-5596 (w), jcartwright@americanlegacy.org