Table 1

Advertisements used in the Australian campaign from 1997

ElementAdvertisement name
ArteryLungTumourBrainEyeTarCall for help
Empathy device (smoker moment) 
 “The people behind this advert understand me”Desperate male smoker goes to gas jet on stove to light first cigarette of the dayDesperate woman having a smoke break outside an office on a wet windy day. She cups her hands to shield her lighter from the windDesperate male smoker at a bus stop sees his bus approaching and smokes quickly to finish his cigaretteDesperate woman having a smoke in her back yard. She looks with concern at her children playing insideDesperate middle aged man in his car is lighting up a cigaretteDesperate young girl alone in her apartment. She finds a single bent cigarette at the bottom of her handbag, straightens it and lights it upMale smoker contacts Quitline and speaks to a counsellor about quitting. She praises his efforts to take the first step and suggests sending out a Quit pack
Conditioning device “Conditions association between act of smoking and images of damage” Close up of cigarette being lit (with strong sound effects) followed by view inside windpipe as smoke enters the body.Not applicable
New news “This affect me and I did not know it” “I can’t bear to think I’m doing that to myself” A glutinous plug of atherosclerotic deposit is squeezed from a disembodied human aorta. Scene modeled on pathology of a 32 year smoker. Known as “brie cheese” sceneAs smoke is pulled and pushed through a healthy red, delicate “sponge like” lung, the membrane begins rotting, forming ugly black, tar-rimmed chambers, turning grey/brownSmoke damages a vital gene that protects the lung cells from cancer. One damaged cell is all it takes and a large cancerous growth spreads rapidly through the airwaySmoking creates blood clots that can cause strokes, which can kill, blind, or paralyse. We view a brain that is cut in half to show the damaged brain, which oozes tissue and bloodChemicals from tobacco smoke get into the blood stream and can damage the eye. We view a close up eye and zoom in through the pupil. The surface of the retina becomes blotchy as a capillary bursts. A dark bruise spreads across the retinaEvery time you inhale, tobacco smoke condenses in the lungs to form tar. A full beaker of tar is poured onto the cut surface of a healthy lung. We view the tar closely as is seeps into the delicate sponge like tissueNot applicable
Certain effects “These are immediate and certain effects of smoking, not just a chance I take” Text and voice over: “Every cigarette is doing you damage”Not applicable
Publicise quitline “Note down number and call helpline” Quitline number 131848 appears on the screen