Background

By 2016, Florida’s 15% smoking rate was lower than the national rate of 17%. This was a point of pride for the state, but the data hid a grim reality: smokers who had not yet quit were comprised of communities disproportionately affected by tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke. Florida’s remaining smokers are primarily lower income (under $30k HHI) and rural. Their smoking incidence is approximately 35% higher than statewide. Reportedly, the tobacco industry is spending $558.8 million annually to market its ever-expanding portfolio of products in the state. That’s more than 24 times what Tobacco Free Florida spends.

Creative Challenge

The challenge was to change the behavior of Floridians who, along with fighting a deadly addiction every day, also battle considerable life concerns: broken homes with harsh realities, living paycheck-to-paycheck despite multiple jobs and long shifts. Their stressful lives overwhelm them, and smoking embodies a break from tension, providing a moment where they feel in control. Paradoxically, they see smoking as a “breath of fresh air.”

Many want to quit smoking and have a long list of reasons why –from health, to financials, to emotional costs. But they’re controlled by their addiction and manipulated by the tobacco industry’s marketing, which targets them with direct marketing and low-cost deals. They are aware that smoking is bad for them but are addicted, feel defeated, and scared to fail at one more thing.

Smokers feel trapped by an addiction that also feels like an indulgence. Taking the first step requires a shift in thinking to understanding that every failed quit attempt is a step towards recovery, not from it.

Solution

The graphic, health-impact work we’d been doing was not enough. Smokers understood the health risks. Their biggest cost of smoking was not their own health. It was their families and things they could do for them that gave them reasons and motivation to try quitting. From financial to health to emotional costs, we needed to reframe what the cost of smoking means for each smoker.

Execution

Our efforts since 2018 dimensionalize the costs of smoking. ALL the costs. All in a new way. Unlike past campaigns that relied only on graphic depictions of the consequences of smoking, particularly the health ones, the shift was towards empathy. We shared real stories, real struggles, real motivations and reasons of real people struggling with smoking addiction.

A series of 8 videos titled “The Reasons” featured real smokers as they share the reasons why they want to quit. These unscripted spots balance the existing evidence-based messages that focus on health consequence ads by creating a halo of empathy. The videos and ads reinforce individuals’ courage to start, continue, or re-start their quit journey. They also remind smokers that TFF supports them with free tools and services, and a CTA driving to TobaccoFreeFlorida.com.

Results

These impactful stories were communicated across a comprehensive campaign and delivered YOY increases in awareness of TFFs support services and in quit attempts, as well as declines in Floridians’ smoking prevalence.