Title: Suffering Every Minute
Reviewer: Rachel Tyree
Date Reviewed: March 28, 2013
Which materials from the MCRC catalog were used in conjunction with this item?
We used the English and Spanish out-of-home ads on transit shelters, Metro subway and lightrail cars, in Metro buses, on the back of buses, and inside Metro subway stations.
Consider all the materials that were used in the campaign. Did they present a coherent,
comprehensive, unified message? If not, how could the campaign have been improved?
Yes, the message of this ad is very impactful, even if it is a one-dimensional print ad.
Describe intended effects and, for each effect, whether it was achieved and by how
much. (example: “Increase Quitline call volume by 20% – achieved 22%
increase within first 6 months”)
Call volume to the California Smokers' Helpline did increase during the 4-week campaign from Los Angeles County callers.
Do you have outcome evaluation data?
No
Are you willing to share this with other states and tobacco control partners:
No
How well did this catalog item fit into your own state/local brand or program?
This hard-hitting ad fits in really well with our messaging and communications we are doing with our local population on getting help for quitting smoking.
Would you recommend this material to other states for use?
Yes
If so, under what circumstances would you recommend it be used?
Yes, absolutely! We knew through our own focus testing, that we are looking at trying to change the behavior of hard-core smokers. We tested lots of different cessation ads, and the NYC Suffering ads are the only ads that really drove people to make a call to the Helpline or to actually think about their smoking behavior based on the graphic nature of emphysema and stroke depicted in these ads.
Comments
If you are in a community/state/county that cannot move the marker on increasing calls to the state quitline this ad will do it. We ran the broadcast ads last year, and we only had funding to run the print version this past new year. The recognition of the gentleman resonated with people. We also tweaked the text to promote the free nicotine patches that we are currently giving away to LA County residents.
