Zita's Story
Make Smoking History’s most successful campaign to date was launched in 2006. Zita Roberts, a young 37 year old mother dying from lung cancer caused by smoking, told her story in a series of television advertisements. In the series, Zita talked honestly and openly about the impact smoking has had on not just her but her loved ones, especially her three children.
‘Zita’s Story’ resonated very strongly with Western Australians. Evaluation of the reaction among smokers found that over one third of survey participants tried to quit over the course of the campaign with a quarter doing so successfully. Cancer Council WA estimates that this equates to as many as 19,000 Western Australians quitting during the ‘Zita’s Story’ campaign.
Sadly Zita passed away in February 2007 aged 38, less than a year after she shared her story which encouraged a record number of smokers to re-evaluate their smoking and quit.
Zita’s family has generously allowed the campaign to used by other states throughout Australia and also internationally. ‘Zita’s Story’ is still one of Make Smoking History’s most recognised and successful campaigns.
Watch the 15 and 30 second TV advertisements
View other campaign material
- Campaign summary (pdf 110kb)
