Health Canada second-hand smoke youth campaign (2002-2003)

Background

In 2001, the Federal Tobacco Control Strategy (FTCS) identified a number of strategic directions for the next decade, one of them being reducing the number of people exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS). It is estimated that exposure to second-hand smoke causes approximately 1,000 deaths per year in Canada. Second-hand smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds, 50 of which are associated with, or known to cause cancer. Second-hand smoke has been linked to a number of illnesses including bronchitis, asthma, and pneumonia.

The Tobacco Control Programme (TCP) adopted a comprehensive and integrated approach to protecting Canadians from second-hand smoke. This includes developing educational resources, national marketing campaigns, engaging youth in second-hand smoke issues (Youth Action Committee) and working with partners in collaborative arrangements.

The first social marketing campaign around the dangers of second-hand smoke began in 2002 with the ad entitled 'target', which focused on second-hand smoke in the home. The primary audience was adults 25-54 (with children). The objective of the campaign was to increase awareness of the dangers of second-hand smoke in the home and to show how smoke travels from one room to the other. In the fall of 2002, Health Canada ran two second-hand smoke campaigns, one focused on dangers of second-hand smoke in the workplace and the other aimed at youth 14-19. The focus of these campaigns was awareness building, based on the fact that many youth and workers were not aware of the dangers of second-hand smoke. The SHS youth campaign will be featured in this case study.

Campaign Description

The objective of the youth second-hand smoke campaign was to educate youth on the dangers of second-hand smoke, as well as encourage them to create personal smoke-free spaces in their homes and social settings. Research indicated that youth are bothered by second-hand smoke, but they were reluctant to speak out about it. The campaign focused on changing attitudes and to support/encourage youth to change their behaviour (exposing others to second-hand smoke). It emphasized the importance of youth setting an example for younger siblings and children, accepting the risk to their own health, as well as the fact that most youth do not want to be responsible for negatively affecting the health of friends, siblings and others.

The youth campaign theme was generated from consultations with youth. The campaign revolved around illnesses that were impacted by second-hand smoke and the term s.s.d. (second-hand smoke diseases) was used to brand the SHS campaign.

In 2002, over 1.6 million youth under the age of 17 were regularly exposed to second-hand smoke. When further explored, teenagers thought it was unacceptable to smoke near young children and didn't want to be negative role models. Research also indicated that teenagers would not encourage younger children to smoke, however, it was identified that they were not aware of the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and didn't find second-hand smoke to be a major issue. Teenagers respond well to personal and emotional stories that relate to them (i.e. losing someone they love). Campaigns aimed at youth should incorporate powerful, graphic imagery in a highly-emotional setting with an educational message.

The campaign included a 30-second television ad that showed teens in everyday situations where people around them smoke. The ad depicted a typical youth scene at a party where a teenage girl is being exposed to second-hand smoke. The ads ran from November 2002 to February 2003 on selected stations during popular youth shows.

Health Canada also worked with MuchMusic on two initiatives: 'Streeters' and 'Forum'. The 'Streeters' project consisted of Health Canada's Youth Action Committee (YAC) members, who were armed with video cameras and were asked to film youth in their communities. They asked them how they were affected by second-hand smoke. MuchMusic took the raw footage and turned it into a number of 30-second ads that were aired on MuchMusic and MusiquePlus. The Forum initiative consisted of an in-studio discussion with YAC members on the dangers of second-hand smoke. A number of ads were created from this forum setting and they were broadcast on MuchMusic and MusiquePlus.

In addition to the television component, the youth campaign also included interior bus ads, cinema magazine ads, billboards (within 150 metres of schools) and digital mall advertising. Some examples are available on www.gosmokefree.ca. The idea was to surround teens in their various habitats with SHS messaging. Ads were also placed in various publications including Magazine Not For Adults and Les Débrouillards.

A key component of the youth campaign was the "Speak Your Mind" Internet contest which was open to youth 12 to 19 years of age. The contest required youth to submit a 'real life' story to Health Canada with respect to how they, their family or their friends have been in similar situations to the girl in the Health Canada second-hand smoke television ad (exposed to second-hand smoke). They were asked to write about what they did about it, how they reacted to the situation and what they might do differently now that they are aware of the dangers of second-hand smoke. The rationale for the contest was to: Increase traffic on the GoSmokefree.ca Web site; motivate teens to create personal and public smoke-free spaces (primary objective of youth campaign); contests are highly successful in terms of reaching youth on the Internet (getting their attention) and finally encourage youth to participate rather than just receive info on second-hand smoke.

In order to drive traffic to the contest site and entice youth in to submitting stories, Health Canada had a number of tactics. Banner ads were placed on select web sites (Canoe, CTV, Degrassi, Hotmail, ICQ, MuchMusic, YTV, etc) that generated millions of impressions. When youth submitted their story, we ensured that all stories that met the criteria were posted on the Health Canada contest site for everyone to read. Random weekly prizes were awarded throughout the entire contest period with the top five submissions receiving a digital video camcorder. The top incentive was the chance to have their ad turned in to a Health Canada advertisement that would air nationally. After reviewing and focus testing the five top stories with youth, Health Canada decided that we would not proceed with the creation and airing of the contest submission. The contest was a great success with over 550 submissions and a number of visits to the contest site.

Research, Monitoring and Evaluation

A baseline survey was conducted in the fall of 2002, surveying young Canadians aged 12-19 (Environics POR-02-43). It indicated that 9 out of 10 youth between the ages of 12 and 19 are aware of second-hand smoke. According to the results, 7 out of 10 were bothered by it with 40% of youth surveyed saying they are exposed daily to second-hand smoke. Seventy-five per cent of those surveyed favoured banning smoking in public places (malls, workplaces, restaurants) and showed that 9 out of 10 youth have a negative opinion of the tobacco industry.

The recall survey conducted at the end of the campaign indicated that seven in ten youth recalled the 'youth' concept. The 's.s.d.' branding used throughout the campaign on the messaging was recalled by 40% of youth. The audio message "Second-hand Smoke Diseases. There's no telling what you'll pick up tonight." was recalled by 65% of youth and "Are you a target?" was recalled by 76% of youth. Three quarters of those surveyed felt it was very (28%) or somewhat (47%) effective in its message about SHS. 87% of youth surveyed thought it was very (49%) or somewhat (38%) believable (Environics POR-02-99/H1011-02-0111).

Summary Information