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New Make Smoking History campaign asks:

"Who will you leave behind?"

Make Smoking History has relaunched the ‘Who will you leave behind?’ campaign which focuses on the experiences, thoughts and emotions of family members left behind by those who die from smoking-related diseases.

Who will you leave behind Luke and Ben
The campaign features Perth brothers, Luke (32) and Ben (30) Eliot, whose father Neil passed away in 2007 from lung cancer caused by his smoking. In the campaign advertising, the brothers talk honestly and openly about their father’s battle with cancer and how it has affected them and their families.


The campaign was first aired in May and June last year, and was very well-received by the general public, but more importantly, West Australian smokers. Research commissioned by the Cancer Council WA found more than 50% of smokers who saw the campaign advertising attempted to quit or cut down, and it was the most successful campaign yet to make smokers talk to their GP or health professional about quitting.

The campaign will once again air across metropolitan and country WA including two additional television advertisements made with the Eliot brothers which weren’t broadcast as part of last year’s campaign. Two 45-second and one 30-second television advertisements will air from Sunday 7 February through to Saturday 13 March.

To view the television advertisements go to the Make Smoking History TV campaigns page.

Advertisements promoting support available to smokers through the Quitline and the Cancer Council WA’s Fresh Start course will also feature in state-wide newspapers. The advertisements include:

A media release announcing the relaunch of the campaign was issued on Sunday 07 February.

Information resources including fact sheets ‘Quitting Smoking Tips and Benefits’, ‘Statistics on Smoking’, ‘Health Effects of Smoking’, ‘Tobacco and Cancer Know Your Risks’ and ‘Facts on Smoking and Lung Cancer’ are available on the resource and information section of our website.

For smokers seeking information and support to quit:

  • Call the Quitline on 13 7848 for a free quit kit and the option to speak confidentially to a trained counsellor.
  • Register to join the Cancer Council's Fresh Start program – a group quitting course. To find out more, call the Cancer Council Helpline on 13 11 20.
  • Seek advice and support from your GP or pharmacist.

 

About Make Smoking History

Established in 2000 and jointly funded by the Cancer Council Western Australia, Department of Health and Healthway, the Make Smoking History campaign aims to strengthen tobacco control activities in Western Australia and boost efforts to reduce the prevalence of smoking among adults in the state. Specifically it seeks to:

  • Influence public opinion and policy on key smoking and health issues e.g. advocating for extended smoke-free areas across Western Australia.
  • Raise awareness of the harms of smoking and the benefits of quitting e.g. through state-wide mass media advertising campaigns.
  • Assist and support smokers to quit by providing them with information and resources to help plan their quit attempt e.g. by providing information resources and promoting support services such as the Cancer Council’s Fresh Start program and the Quitline service.

Make Smoking History employs a comprehensive range of strategies and has achieved some outstanding successes since its establishment.

Implementation of hard hitting mass media advertising in both metropolitan and regional WA is a key strategy. All campaigns to date have evaluated strongly with WA smokers surveyed, with many reporting they have either quit or cut down, or made an attempt to do so, after seeing the advertising. The campaign has also received a number of state and international advertising industry awards, and continues to focus public, political and media attention on key smoking and health issues.

One of Make Smoking History’s most successful past TV campaigns was the ‘Zita’s Story’ campaign, which featured a young Perth mother terminally ill with lung cancer. More recently Perth brothers Luke and Ben Eliot shared the story of losing their father Neil to lung cancer and the ‘Sugar Sugar’ campaign highlighted issues around flavour additives in cigarettes.

To view Make Smoking History’s past campaigns and access summary details and evaluation results, see the following links:

Public education material is continually produced and updated. To view and order these materials please see the tobacco resources page.

If you would like to find out more about Make Smoking History please email us at MakeSmokingHistory@cancerwa.asn.au.

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