Funeral/Celebration of Life

Acknowledging the devastating toll of tobacco.

Tobacco use kills 480,000 people in the U.S. and eight million people across the globe every year. On Take Down Tobacco National Day of Action, you can host a funeral to remember all the lives lost to tobacco, and/or celebrate life by making pledges to quit tobacco or stay tobacco-free. Participants can also share personal stories about the impact tobacco use has had on their loved ones. Don’t forget to take pictures and tag us!

Art/Poetry Contest

Use your creativity to educate your peers and expose Big Tobacco’s tricks.

Poetry and art contests are great ways to make people think about how tobacco impacts their lives – and inspire people to join the tobacco-free movement. Make sure to start promoting the event a couple of weeks in advance, so people have time to express their creativity. Offering prizes and giveaways can help to incentivize participation and increase attendance. On Take Down Tobacco National Day of Action, showcase everyone’s art – and don’t forget to share it all on social media!

Outperform the Joker!

Go all-in to bring down Big Tobacco. Show the world how you won’t be fooled. We know you have a voice and a unique way of expressing yourself. Can you rap? Are you a poet? What about painted art? Choose a unique way to explain how and why you won't be fooled by Big Tobacco. Post to your social media and use #TakeDownTobacco.

Roast the Joker!

Are you funny? Maybe some of your friends are? Get together and write up a hilarious roast of Big Tobacco—the biggest joker in history—and its impact on your life to help us take down this deceptive industry and change the odds in your favor. Alternatively, you could work with a local comedian, broadcast news personality, or rising star from your school or organization to host the roast. Record the meeting and/or snap a screenshot of the event and share on social using #TakeDownTobacco. To further amplify your event, show Big Tobacco you won’t be a fool by tagging your local elected leaders.

Zombie Walk

The Zombie Walk is a great way to show what the tobacco industry is doing to our health. These jokers are betting on kids’ lives and the result is sickness, death and disease. For this event, get together a group to dress up as zombies (think tattered clothes, makeup, scary signs and other props) and hold a march near your school, city hall, or other busy area. You can even have one of your group leaders dress up as the tobacco joker and have them lead the pack as the zombies chase them down for revenge! It’s an eye-catching event best done with a large group to grab attention from your community.

Meme the Joker

Don’t let these jokers make another generation of smokers. Make your own meme calling out Big Tobacco. We'll give you the facts and messages, you supply the creativity. Post it as a video, graphic, or even just your own joke, to your social media and use #TakeDownTobacco. Maybe even make it a contest among classmates and friends and gather to premiere your meme! The best memes or jokes might even be shared on our channels on April 1st. Don’t forget to tag us!

This is Jeopardy… Joker Takedown Edition!

The table stakes for this game? Your life. Host an engaging Jeopardy-style event (virtually or in-person) to complete with trivia facts that show how Big Tobacco is a fool and has been trying to dupe kids for years. Contestants could be local policymakers, youth advocates, parents or teachers. See who knows the most about how Big Tobacco tries to fool kids, and fold in important messages about why it must end. During the event, encourage participants to share facts they learned on social media along with #TakeDownTobacco.

What’s in a Vape Cloud

The tobacco industry thinks they can fool a new generation into thinking e-cigarettes are harmless —this fun and creative activity helps expose the truth about their addictive levels of nicotine and harmful ingredients. Blow up balloons or beach balls and label them with the different ingredients and chemicals that are in e-cigarettes like nicotine, ultrafine chemicals, volatile organic compounds, toxic chemicals and heavy metals. It’s a great way to decorate a booth or table to grab attention and start a conversation with people who pass by.

Show the Joker’s Hand

Showcase the ways Big Tobacco shows up in your life—whether it’s ads targeting you on social media, vape shops on street corners near your school, or candy-flavored tobacco products lining the aisles of your local convenience store—take a picture/video and document it on social media using #TakeDownTobacco. Big Tobacco will always deal you a bad hand, and it’s time we expose the tricky ways they target you.

Trash the Joker

Big Tobacco harms the planet in many ways — and their litter can be found EVERYWHERE. Organize a scavenger hunt with your friends, classmates or organization to help clean up your community. Pick a couple close by locations like your school, local park and other public spaces to clean up cigarette butts, e-cigarette waste and other tobacco-related products. When it’s all collected, take a picture and share it on social media using #TakeDownTobacco to show how Big Tobacco’s trash is piling up in your community. You can also pick up other trash, but make sure to capture just how much of it comes from these jokers!

Cups in a Fence

Expose Big Tobacco and their foolish tricks with this quick and easy activity. Use colored plastic cups and put them in a chain link fence to spell out your message (Take Down Tobacco, Tobacco-Free Generation, Joker Takedown, etc.). Document your message and share on social media using #TakeDownTobacco. It’s a great conversation starter to grab people’s attention and educate them about how these jokers think they can fool another generation into addiction.

Fatal Figures

The tobacco industry thinks they can gamble with people’s lives and the results are devastating. Expose these jokers and the harm they cause by creating powerful visuals showing the toll of tobacco. You can decorate tombstones, set up body bags, hand out toe tags with facts and more to remind people of all the sickness, death and disease that tobacco causes. Document your visuals and exhibits on social media using #TakeDownTobacco. This event also works great in combination with the Zombie Walk activity.

I #TakeDownTobacco because…

Big Tobacco shows up in our lives no matter where we go, and there’s so many reasons to #TakeDownTobacco. Fill in the sentence on social media to show why you’re fighting back against the tobacco industry. Whether it’s because tobacco ads are unavoidable on the walk to school or scrolling through social media, your family member suffers from tobacco-related illnesses, or you’re tired of trash piling up in your community, make your voice heard to share why YOU want to take down these jokers.

Joker Takedown Rally

Up the ante on Big Tobacco—Get out your megaphone, download our “Joker Takedown” posters and organize a rally in your community to let people know you won’t be fooled by the tobacco industry. The rally could feature facts, roasts of Big Tobacco, or stories of why the community wants to #TakeDownTobacco. Participants could include local officials, athletes, community leaders, reporters, or other recognizable personalities in your community who are passionate about fighting Big Tobacco. Use their local star power and social media presence to boost the event! These jokers have tried to hook a new generation with potent nicotine doses and kid-friendly flavors, and a rally is a great way to show that you’ve had enough. Choose a theme/message, pick a location, recruit participants/speakers and make your voice heard!

Postcard/Petition Party

Host a postcard party to let your decision makers know that you’re tired of being targeted by the tobacco industry — and the stakes couldn’t be higher. These jokers think they can fool a new generation into addiction with sweet flavors, cheap products and targeted advertising. Get together a group to write letters or sign a petition to your decision makers (your city council, mayor, Congressmember, Senators, etc.) to let them know you support policies to end flavored tobacco sales, increase the price of tobacco products, and stop the tobacco industry from targeting kids and vulnerable communities.

Call Big Tobacco’s Bluff

Big Tobacco tries to fool us by using flavors to hook kids on nicotine. Since 1 JUUL pod equals the nicotine of 20 cigarettes, host a Zoom call or individually FaceTime with 20 friends to sign a petition urging regulators to eliminate flavored tobacco products.