The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is launching an anti-tobacco campaign next week aimed at the teenagers who are at risk of becoming addicted to cigarettes, Reuters reported.

"The Real Cost," a $115 million multimedia campaign, will target about 10 million people aged 12 to 17 who are open to smoking cigarettes or are already experimenting with them. The objective of the campaign is to educate these at-risk youth about the harmful effects of tobacco use.

"Our kids are the replacement customers for the addicted adult smokers who die or quit each day," Mitch Zeller, the director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, told Reuters. "And that's why we think it's so important to reach out to them - not to lecture them, not to throw statistics at them - but to reach them in a way that will get them to rethink their relationship with tobacco use."

Beginning on Feb. 11, advertisements will run in more than 200 markets through the United States for at least one year. The anti-smoking campaign will also include ads on TV stations such as MTV and in magazines like Teen Vogue. The advertisements will also be on social media.

Zeller said the campaign is a "compelling, provocative and somewhat graphic way" of grabbing the attention of at-risk youth who are open to, or are already experimenting with, cigarettes. The goal of the FDA is to reduce the number of youth cigarette smokers by at least 300,000 within three years.

"While most teens understand the serious health risks associated with tobacco use, they often don't believe the long-term consequences will ever apply to them," FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told The Washington Post. "We'll highlight some of the real costs and health consequences associated with tobacco use by focusing on some of the things that really matter to teens - their outward appearance and having control and independence over their lives."

The FDA will be evaluating the impact of the campaign by following 8,000 people between the ages of 11 and 16 for two years to "assess changes in tobacco-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors," The Washington Post reported.