Everybody Knows

So I thought I'd start off with my favourite Anti-Smoking Campaign - perhaps the inspiration to this blog.





Everybody knows the damage smoking causes, yet people continue to do it. Personally I like this campaign because it combines several previous campaigns. It lists all the different illnesses that are caused by smoking using the terms 'everybody knows' to accentuate the great amount that suffer from smoking addictions and illnesses (Cancer Institute NSW, 2010). It aims to motivate smokers to quit immediately (Mitchell, 2009, p.4).

On YouTube, the ad has generated a great response (47501 views for this particular clip). What I found interesting was that YouTube considered the campaign to be somewhat 'inappropriate' being flagged by YouTube users. Infact users are required to indicate whether they're over the age of 18.

This causes me to question the impact of the ad - shouldn't it be easily accessible due to the seriousness of the circumstances? 'Appropriateness' has been a significant issue with smoking campaigns. Images are considered 'graphic' and 'disturbing' which could in some ways harm non-smokers - e.g. children (Belch et al, 2009, p.84). One could argue that instead of 'harming' children, such ads inform and scare children away from smoking, resulting in a positive response. I, for one, would never touch a cigarette because I KNOW the damages it causes thanks to the ads.

Overall the campaign was 'successful' as it was able to increase quitting requests (Mitchell, 2009, p.6). Being displayed on television and the radio, it was able to successfully reach a wide audience (Mictchell, 2009, p.5).

How has it impacted you?

References:

- Belch, Belch, Kerr & Powell, 2009, Advertising and Promotion, McGraw-Hill Australia, Australia
- Cancer Insitute NSW, 2010, Everybody Knows Campaign, Accessed 29/08/2010, http://www.cancerinstitute.org.au/cancer_inst/campaigns/everybodyknows.html
- Mitchell, G. 2009, 'Everybody Knows', Campaign Report, pp. 1-13, Accessed 29/08/2010, http://www.quittas.org.au/files/everybodyknows/everybodyknows_campaign_report.pdf