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Media Campaign Inspires Tens of Thousands to Try Quitting

Calls to toll-free quitlines still surging two months after launch of anti-smoking ads

Posted by: Editor | May 16, 2012

Smokers are taking "Tips from Former Smokers" seriously: Weekly calls to toll-free telephone quitlines are still running at about double the call volume recorded before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began running advertisements featuring the real stories of former smokers who are suffering the debilitating health effects of their tobacco use.

Data through the eighth week of the campaign shows that 127,167 additional calls have been generated by the advertising, compared with call volume prior to the launch of the ads. Twenty-seven states have seen calls at least double.

Nationally, there were 28,712 calls to quitlines during the week between May 7 and May 13, the most recent for which data is available. That's about double the 14,437 calls made to quitlines in the week before the ads began running.

The hard-hitting ads are part of an unprecedented national media campaign, and they are proving once again that mass media campaigns are effective in reducing smoking and its deadly consequences. Substantial scientific evidence and results from numerous states show that mass media campaigns reduce the number of children who start smoking and increase the number of smokers who quit, saving lives and health care dollars.

Watch the ads here.

Source: NCI 1-800-QUIT NOW