National Stop Smoking Campaign

Nov 12th, 2009

National Stop Smoking Campaign Continues with Information, Resources for Smokers

With the latest research estimating that nearly six million people worldwide will lose their lives to tobacco next year, an innovative approach is critical to helping the 43 million Americans who smoke to finally quit. This month, which is observed as Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the national quit smoking program, EX^® will debut the second phase of advertising and promotions designed to help smokers “re-learn” life without cigarettes.

The campaign will begin airing this month on radio and cable television networks as well as online, in print and through ambient/out-of-home channels. EX is a national quit smoking campaign, sponsored by the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation (NATC), a two-year old collaborative of state and national public health groups spearheaded by Legacy^SM, creators of the award-winning truth^® youth smoking prevention campaign.

EX is more than an advertising campaign, it provides evidence-based tools to help smokers quit, including information that can help them prepare for a quit attempt by 1) “Re-learning” their thinking on the behavioral aspects of smoking and how different smoking triggers can be overcome with practice and preparation; 2) “Re-learning” their knowledge of addiction and how medications can increase their chances for quitting success; and 3) “Re-learning” their ideas of how support from friends and family members can play a critical role in quitting.

Because social support is so important, EX has used a state-of-the-art Web site (www.BecomeAnEX.org) as a convening point for smokers who want to quit and collaborate on their successes and challenges in the difficult quit process. Since March 2008, when the program first debuted, over a million people have visited the site and more than 14,000 smokers have joined the online community, forming nearly 300 customized support groups. EX tools were designed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic and with input from former and current smokers who have lived with this struggle, in order to provide smokers with a realistic approach based on evidence based research.

Most smokers in America – 70 percent – want to quit, but in 2000, only about five percent of smokers were successful in quitting long-term. Quitting smoking is ultimately one of the single most important lifestyle changes one can make to improve and extend their lives. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States; smokers therefore need to be armed with all the available information to make the best, most informed choices about the smoking cessation medications and resources available to them.

The new EX ads have a heavy rotation with sports fans, who, according to one recent study, also have high smoking rates. Another new tack in this year’s promotional strategy includes the creation of two spots that will be used only as unpaid public service announcements and will be placed as part of a partnership between Legacy and The Advertising Council.

“This year, there have been several historic changes in public policy related tobacco prevention and cessation. From the passage of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act increasing the Federal excise tax on tobacco to the Family Smoking Prevention and Control Act securing authority for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. The movement to reduce the number of smokers in America is evolving,” said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, President and CEO of Legacy. “What is yet to change are the financial resources available to help smokers quit, so we have had to become even more creative with our public education strategy and are confident that our PSA partnership with The Advertising Council will effectively supplement our past traditional paid media efforts in this campaign.”

For the 2009 edition of the campaign, a major focus of the placements will be through partnerships with Major League Baseball on Fox, “Bassmasters” on ESPN2 and on radio through ABC and Sporting News Radio. The campaign will run from mid-Fall (November 1) through January, hopefully encouraging smokers to prepare to quit as their New Year’s Resolution.

Descriptions of television spots:

Many smokers light up when they drive. At the beginning of “Spin,” a man leaves his store for a smoke break. Cigarette in hand, he tries the doors of a few cars, before jumping into an idling delivery van and driving off. The voice over relates: “You don’t drive every time you smoke; yet, you smoke every time you drive” and exhorts the viewer to “relearn life without cigarettes” at BecomeAnEx.org.

“Receptionist” is a look at the habit many people have of smoking while drinking alcohol. Cigarettes at the ready, a woman at her desk in an office setting crushes ice, chops strawberries and then blends the mixture while her coworkers all try to work. As she heads outside with her margarita, the voice over explains “You don’t drink every time you smoke; yet, you smoke every time you drink” and offers that the viewer can “relearn life without cigarettes” at BecomeAnEx.org.

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