Quitline Launches New Hard Hitting Campaign

Quitline Launches New Hard Hitting Campaign

Hard realisations can be the trigger a smoker needs to quit.

Today Quitline launches a new national advertising campaign, which features three real people – Sandy, Carl and Josie – who share the moments when they realised they had to quit smoking. Titled ‘The moment I knew…’, the campaign is a departure from Quitline’s recent upbeat advertisements.

“This is a hard-hitting campaign, which may evoke a sense of regret or guilt in current smokers. The advertisements end on a positive note, letting smokers know that Quitline is here to help when they are ready to quit,” says Quitline CEO Paula Snowden.

For Josie, the moment was when she realised that she didn’t want to die prematurely from smoking as her mother and sister had. Solo-mum Sandy knew she had to quit when she realised that if she became sick with a smoking related disease she wouldn’t be able to raise her kids. Carl knew when he realised he’d been smoking for 30 years and was wasting money on cigarettes that could be spent on his whānau.

The advertisements feature ‘flash forwards’ where Josie, Sandy and Carl imagine what would have happened if they’d continued to smoke. Josie is shown placing her own memorial plaque on the wall next to her mother and sister’s. Sandy is shown sick and breathing through tubes. Carl sees his money turning into a cigarette packet.

The content of these ads has been informed by recent research commissioned by the Ministry of Health, which shows the most effective quit smoking messages contain a narrative and are highly emotive. They should be direct and ‘hard-hitting’ in the sense that they elicit strong emotions.

The advertisements end with a piece to camera by Quitline CEO Paula Snowden, encouraging smokers to contact Quitline. The end frame displays Quitline’s contact details.

“The aim was to create a campaign with high emotional impact and a simple, direct call to action for smokers to contact Quitline for help,” explains Paula. “Real people were used to give the campaign authenticity. Their reasons for quitting are ones that will resonate broadly with smokers – health, money and family.”

Paula Snowden is a former smoker herself. After four attempts she quit for good when her daughter was born. She appears in the ads in order to give a human face to Quitline.

This campaign beings on July 1st and will screen nationally. The first advertisment to be screened will be Josie’s, followed by Carl’s, Sandy’s and the combined version at three week intervals. The aim is maintain interest and momentum as the full campaign is revealed.

The advertisements were produced by Nix Jaques of Auckland-based production company Screentime. They were written and directed by Kewana Duncan.

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