PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia health officials are launching a campaign to inspire smokers to quit, using testimonials from people who have kicked the habit. The ads will target groups with the highest rates of smoking.
Smoking rates are down in the city, but Philadelphia Department of Public Health Tobacco Policy and Control Program Manager Ryan Coffman said high rates persist in the hospitality industry, the LGBTQ community, among veterans and people recovering from addiction.
These higher rates can be maintained by perceptions that tobacco use is common and even necessary. The tobacco industry has largely created this perception to allow them to continue to target these communities for the sake of profit.
“Despite these perceptions, we know a majority of folks in these communities want to be tobacco-free just as much as anyone else,” said Coffman.
The new campaign features members of those communities who have quit, with the message of “If I can quit, so can you.”
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Valerie Andreyeva said smoking was a gateway to other addictions, and *quitting* became a pathway to recovery.
“Deciding to quit nicotine was the introduction to quitting all of my other harmful lifestyle choices,” she said.
Camilla Al-Roka is a bartender, in an industry with one of the highest rates of smoking.
In the new ads, she talks about how the habit crept up until breaks were synonymous with cigarettes. A car wash was her wake-up call.
“I saw nicotine-stained water dripping down the side and I was nauseated to think, ‘I’m putting this inside my lungs,’” Al-Roka said.
“I smoked a pack-and-a-half a day for 20 years,” said trans man David Underwood. “I can quit. So can you.”
Coffman said the campaign is a new approach locally, but is rooted in a CDC campaign featuring success stories that proved helpful in getting people to give up tobacco. The ads will run on TV, radio, and billboards through October.