Advertising Campaign: Florida Truth Counter Marketing Campaign

“Truth” Campaign

In April of 1998 the Florida Tobacco Control Program launched the “truth” counter marketing campaign, which was funded by Florida’s 1997 settlement with the tobacco industry. According to Jeffery Hicks, “Florida's settlement with the tobacco companies totaled $11.3 billion dollars and included provisions for the funding of a two year $200 million dollar youth anti-tobacco education and marketing campaign.” The ‘truth’ campaign was created to change youth attitudes about tobacco and to reduce teen tobacco use throughout Florida by using youth-driven advertising, public relations, and advocacy. The $25 million advertising campaign included 33 television commercials, seven billboards, eight print ads and four posters. The ads

Advertisements were produced with some of the hottest commercial directors in the industry, web sites were created using the newest types of animation, and research was conducted by companies that had perfected their craft while working on some of the largest teen targeted private sector brands in the country (Hicks, 2001).The access to considerable funding had the greatest impact on media. Where traditional anti-tobacco efforts used remainder and public service discount weight, the Florida “Truth” campaign bought media on the open market with a year one budget of more than $15 million (Hicks, 2001). Rather than run for free at midnight or in programming with little teen viewership, “truth” aired on MTV, during the broadcasting of the Superbowl, and in those programs that youth watched the most. As the American Legacy Foundation began its research they analyzed and qualitatively tested the existing anti-tobacco strategies and creative execution of other states. Since few of these states were having an impact on lowering youth smoking prevalence, they turned their attack on the anti-tobacco campaign away from the world of social marketing and toward youth marketing. According to Jeffery Hicks, “the shift away from established social marketing was a point of inflection that would impact our every step and ultimately define the success of the effort of the “Truth” campaign. As they had done in other youth categories, their research was conducted qualitatively with young adult interviewers in places such as malls and skate parks, where youth felt comfortable. Interviewers used bad language and, without really trying, were seen as peers. Trust was built in the information gathering stage that went well beyond any interaction in a focus group (Sly et