Inspired by the recent discussions of health campaigns and what makes one effective, I decided to check out one of the more famous (and successful?) campaigns of late--the Truth Campaign, which is aimed at reducing/preventing tobacco use among young folks. When I first arrived at the site, I thought I had gone to the wrong place. The site was filled with cartoon characters, games, and quips such as “tobacco will kill 1 in 3 youth smokers”, followed by “but at least two live!”. The site also compared death from tobacco and death from murder, saying that tobacco kills far more people but “murder’s a lot scarier, so it’s a tie.” At initial glance, the site seemed to be far too much fun to actually be aimed at reducing cigarette smoking. But then I realized—that’s the point.
Probably the coolest thing I saw on the site was the feature called “useful cigarette”. This interactive component to the website allows you to scan across an enormous cigarette and see a visual depiction of all of the *fun* ingredients found in cigarettes. Some of my favorites (in no particular order) include pesticides, embalming fluid, urea (yes, what’s found in urine), and mothballs. Yum!
This fun little feature can be found here: http://www.thetruth.com/facts/useFulCig/
So the question to ask, then, is whether this thing works. Well, according to the website called Protect the Truth (http://www.protectthetruth.org/truthcampaign.htm):
You bet it does.
0. Seventy-five percent of all 12 to 17 year-olds in the nation - 21 million - can accurately describe one or more of the truth® ads.
0. Nearly 90 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 - 25 million - said the ad they saw was convincing.
Eighty-five percent - 24 million - said the ad gave them good reasons not to smoke.
I have been hearing people talk about The Truth for some time now. And I thought I understood just how powerful it could be. I was wrong—after spending a little time on the website this morning, I got a FANTASTIC lesson in what works when trying to change health behavior. And this will be my gold standard until something better comes along.
8 comments:
the truth hurts sometimes...
i know huh. i thought about you lots when i wrote this lil number. so proud of you for quitting bruz!!!!
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!
I checked out that useful cig thingy. It was pretty cool. I like how the website put a lot of importance on making the graphics and the design consistent with with other sites young kids go to. The kids at the Mi Casa would go to these video game sites whenever we went to the library, and the look very similar to the truth website.
Yeah, i thought it looked SUPER video gamey. That's why I was initially confused. Good to know that there is some basis to what they were trying to do with Truth.
truth that!
I will definitely share your blog with my sister, you know the one who still smokes. You never know...
that's great, katie! i would especially think that my most recent post could benefit her, since she's got a social conscience!!!
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