Cancer Council WA has used the 25 year anniversary of its flagship tobacco control program, Make Smoking History, to launch an emotive new advertising campaign, 'How To Tell You', which illustrates how a cancer diagnosis affects a person's entire community.
Cancer Council WA CEO Ashley Reid said the campaign encourages people who smoke to quit by encapsulating the painful reality of telling your loved ones you have cancer.
"The concept for the 'How To Tell You' campaign was developed from research with people who smoke," Mr Reid said.
"The research highlighted that people who smoke are strongly motivated to quit by the thought of how a smoking-related illness would impact their loved ones.
"The physical toll that comes with a cancer diagnosis and its treatment can be incredibly tough, but that moment of telling friends and family is heartbreaking.
"This emotional campaign offers hope by directing people to support and tips for how to quit."
Mr Reid said hard-hitting campaigns have been a key strategy to the success of Make Smoking History over the past 25 years.
"Research has shown that anti-smoking ads that use personal testimonies, graphic imagery, emotive messages and the negative health effects of smoking have been the most effective in prompting quit attempts," he said.
"We are so grateful to the brave West Australians who have generously shared their stories with us in our campaigns over the past 25 years.
"We know these campaigns encourage people to quit smoking. Over the last 25 years we have seen WA's adult smoking rates reduce from 24.0 per cent in 2002 to 10.9 per cent in 2022."
Mr Reid said when the Make Smoking History program started, nearly one in four WA adults smoked cigarettes. People still smoked in bars, nightclubs, playgrounds and cars carrying children.
"While smoking rates have decreased significantly in the past 25 years, it is vitally important that comprehensive, evidence-based approaches to tobacco control continue, because the fight is far from over," he said.
The campaign will launch Sunday 16 February and will be in market in two bursts until 1 November, across metropolitan and regional and TV and radio stations, NITV, digital video and display platforms including social media and audio streaming.
