'Fat' Ads Used to Discourage Smoking
10/25/05
A British group is running graphic antismoking ads showing how fatty deposits build up in the arteries of smokers and cause blood clots, the Guardian reported Oct. 23.
To the accompaniment of Frank Sinatra singing Cole Porter's 'I've Got You Under My Skin,' the ads show how a blood clot can move to a smoker's heart, followed by the tagline, "A blood clot kills a smoker every 35 minutes."
The British Heart Foundation (BHF), which produced the ads, also created a billboard and TV campaign that showed fat dripping from the end of a cigarette.
"When it comes to smoking, most people are at the 'tipping point,'" said BHF psychology expert Andrew Steptoe. "They know they shouldn't, but find it difficult to make the decision to stop at this moment. Like the previous campaign, these adverts were developed to tip smokers over the edge."
The previous BHF ad campaign prompted 30,000 hits on the foundation website and moved thousands of smokers to quit. "It was horrible and disgusting," said Katy Leggate, 35, who had smoked for 13 years. "I never realized that was what was happening to my arteries. I saw [an ad] the evening before I quit and I think that gave me the extra kick that I needed to quit and stay quit."