Tips From Former Smokers™: landmark anti-smoking campaign begins sixth year January 9

What

CDC’s Tips From Former Smokers campaign will be back on the air for at least 20 weeks in 2017. The 15- and 30-second ads will run nationally on cable and network television and online, supported by print versions. There will be additional placements on television, radio, and billboards in 30 markets that have higher rates of cigarette smoking.

When

The ads begin airing Monday, January 9, 2017.

Why

Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Since it began in 2012, the Tips From Former Smokers campaign has helped at least 500,000 smokers quit and inspired millions more to try to quit. The brave individuals in the Tips From Former Smokers ads give a voice to the more than 16 million Americans living with a smoking-related disease. This year, the Tips campaign will feature people with a variety of smoking-related conditions and diseases.

The Tips campaign is money well spent. Over the past 5 years, the campaign has a proven track record of helping people to quit smoking. This campaign saves lives and dollars.

• It has proven to be a “best buy” for public health at a cost of just $393 to save a year of life.
  • Smoking-related disease costs America nearly $170 billion a year in health care spending.
• The Tips campaign serves as an important counter to the $8.5 billion that was spent on advertising and promotion of cigarettes in the United States in 2014 — more than $23 million every day, or nearly $1 million every hour.
  • The money spent on this campaign is roughly equal to the amount of money the tobacco industry spends on advertising and promotion in about three days.

Where

Information on the Tips is available at cdc.gov/tips. Downloadable copies of the ads for use by the media are available at plowsharegroup.com/cdctips.

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES