DoH readies fresh anti-smoking push
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The Department of Health has launched a fresh anti-smoking push featuring real children, not actors, talking about how concerned they are about their parents’ smoking.
DoH Real Kids campaign
The campaign, created by Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy, will be tailored to the programme they are shown within.
For example, an ad break during Coronation Street will feature a child saying: “Hi Mum, I know you’re watching Coronation Street. I don’t want you to smoke because I don’t want you to go through what your mum went through. Because it will just make me really, really sad and because I don’t want you to die. I don’t know what I would do without you”.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking & Health (ASH), says the ads are “tapping into emotions” of children of smoking parents and that the “campaign gives smokers a clear incentive” to quit.
The campaign comes as DoH research reveals that almost all (96%) children with a smoking parent wish that they would quit, while nearly two-thirds (64%) of children whose parents smoke would rather their parents quit smoking than give them more pocket money.
The research, which polled 1,000 children in England aged 8-13.
Readers' comments (1)
Anonymous | Sat, 19 Sep 2009 6:01 pm
I heard one of these ads this morning, basically the child blaming her/himself for the parent having cancer, saying they should have stopped them
Are the DoH completely mental? put the guilt trip on the child? Its the PARENTS fault they smoke not the child for gods sake. What are the DoH trying to do to our children? Keep psychaitrists in jobs maybe when every child whos parent dies from cancer blames themselves. I cant believ my ears
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