In 2014, the CDC launched a national tobacco education campaign to get Americans to quit smoking. A report measuring the latest outcomes of the campaign suggests the ads are still having a significant impact after three years.
The study, published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, shows the nine-week-long 2014 "Tips From Former Smokers" campaign motivated roughly 1.83 million Americans to try to quit smoking cigarettes — 104,000 of whom have quit for good.
"Tips From Former Smokers" is the first federally funded anti-smoking paid media campaign. The ad campaign aired in two phases during 2014, from Feb. 3 to April 6, and from July 7 to Sept. 7. The first phase of the 2014 campaign ran ads primarily from created in 2012 and 2013; phase two contained new ads. Approximately 80 percent of American adult cigarette smokers surveyed reported seeing at least one television ad from phase two of the 2014 campaign.
"The 'Tips' campaign is an important counter measure to the $1 million that the tobacco industry spends each hour on cigarette advertising and promotion," said Corinne Graffunder, DrPH, director of CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. "The money spent in one year on 'Tips' is less than the amount the tobacco industry spends on advertising and promotion in just three days."
To access more information on the "Tips" campaign, including profiles of the former smokers, click here.
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