EVERYBODY KNOWS SMOKING KILLS

A new graphic anti-tobacco advertisement from the Cancer Council Western Australia went to air last week, driving home a message everybody knows but some smokers still ignore.

“Everybody knows smoking kills, yet some still smoke,” said Susan Stewart, Manager of the Cancer Council’s Make Smoking History campaign. The advertisement is a ‘shock and awe’ montage of well known, smoking-related diseases taken from anti-tobacco campaigns shown in Australia over the last decade.

The one minute-long commercial is set to the Leonard Cohen track Everybody Knows. View the ad here.

“This campaign will ask smokers directly why they still smoke, despite everybody knowing tobacco causes cancer, stroke, heart disease and emphysema,” Ms Stewart said. “It creates a strong sense of personal relevance among smokers, because the advertisement reflects what we know they already say to themselves. The ad turns that into a reason to seek out support services to help them quit.”

Ms Stewart said hard-hitting TV commercials had a major influence in driving down the State’s smoking prevalence over the past decade.

“The smoking prevalence among West Australians aged 18 years and over has dropped from 32% in 1984 to 17% in 2006. But there are still around 300,000 adults who still smoke.

The ‘Everybody Knows’ ad was produced by the NSW Cancer Institute and first ran in NSW last year. It’s the first time the ad has been aired in Western Australia. The television campaign is supported by a series of press advertisements from Gatecrasher which address some of the common myths and misconceptions about smoking and quitting.