Kicking Butt: The Habit or the Bucket?

Brandweek, June 25, 2001 by Becky Ebenkamp

When someone isn't ready to stop smoking, scare tactics are rarely effective. Just ask my friend whose collapsed lung didn't deter him one bit from trying to disable a smoke alarm and fire up in an air plane john. But can a fire and brimstone message tip someone who's on the brink of quitting? That's what the state of Minnesota is aiming for in a campaign that uses poignant images to draw people to its smoking cessation help line. The Sixth Sense seems to have inspired the ad in which a man cheers on a granddaughter taking her first steps. As she approaches his outreached arms, he becomes transparent-premature, smoking related death caused him to miss the milestone. "Be there tomorrow. Stop smoking today it tags. A print ad plays on this theme as well. A cross-section of earth features tiny feet treading on some grass and the soil that lies below "Your grand child's first steps," an arrow notes. One pointing 6 feet under bears the bad news: "You" But since the phone line is designed to aid those in all stages of nic addiction-from denial to deprivation-other executions are lighter. As a dad playfully blows bubbles on his baby's belly he detects a foul odor. He runs out of the room and takes a deep breath, then attempts to hold off on oxygen while changing the rank diaper. "Just three months after stopping smoking, lung function increases up to 30%," a super says.

Product: Minnesota' Tobacco Helpline

Marketer: Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco, St. Paul, Minn.

Agency: Clarity Coverdale Fury, Minneapolis

Market: Statewide

Key players: CCF. Jac Coverdale, exec creative dir; Troy Longie, copywriter, Glenn Gray art dir