For immediate release: November 5, 2003 (03-178)

Contacts:
Tim Church, Communications Office 360-236-4077

OLYMPIA ¾ About 80 percent of Washington youth say they have seen the state Department of Health’s anti-smoking advertisements, and about 94 percent of those say the ads gave them good reasons not to smoke according to new data released today by the agency.

The new findings come as the department launches its newest anti-tobacco ads this week. The ads are a key element of the state’s comprehensive campaign to reduce youth tobacco use. Since the start of the statewide Tobacco Prevention and Control Program in July 2000, the number of Washington tenth graders who smoke has dropped by 40 percent.

"We’re creating real and lasting change in Washington," said Secretary of Health Mary Selecky. "Still, we have more work to do; about 55 kids start smoking every day in our state. Our new ad campaign will help us reach more youth so we can convince them to quit smoking or never start."

The latest Department of Health youth survey results show that youth found the ads compelling and credible. For example, 90 percent of the youth who saw the ads said they were convincing; 92 percent said the ads grabbed their attention; and 82 percent said they believed the negative health impacts in the ads really could happen to them if they smoked.

"The effectiveness of our advertising efforts lies in the extensive investigation we did with Washington state youth about what catches their attention most," said Terry Reid, manager of the state Department of Health Tobacco Prevention and Control Program. "Our ads speak directly to youth who are at risk for smoking, with messages specifically designed to get their attention and give them the hard facts."

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The new anti-tobacco ads were created by Seattle advertising agency Sedgwick Rd. The firm tested different kinds of ads with youth to determine what messages would work in Washington.

The ads aim to dramatize smoking’s slippery slope of addiction. One TV ad features a group of kids who unwittingly jump on what appears to be a cool, rock-band tour bus, only to discover that the creepy, smoke-filled vehicle is full of hacking, disease-ridden smokers – and they can’t get off. The second depicts a group of kids smoking in a dark alley just outside what looks like an exclusive nightclub. In a Hansel and Gretel-like turn of events, the kids are invited in only to find that the club is actually a kind of holding cell for smokers on the long, slow road to debilitating disease and death.

"The information we gathered from kids through surveys, interviews, and journal exercises, made it clear that kids in Washington know that smoking is bad," Selecky said. "However, most kids who smoke still think they can quit any time. We want to show them that it’s easier to become addicted than they might think. More than a third of all kids who try smoking become habitual smokers before leaving high school."

In addition to the television ads, the campaign includes radio, print and Web-based ads. The spots will run through August in a variety of outlets popular with youth ages 9-14. They are part of a comprehensive strategy designed to reduce youth smoking that also includes community outreach, support services and school-based education programs.

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