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• NHS Anti-Smoking Adverts Might Be Controversial But Are Still Effective, Says Study 

A recent study has shown that the NHS anti-smoking campaign Get unhooked was effective, despite being named this week as the UK's most controversial advert in 2007.

The Department of Health advert, showing a graphic image of a man with a fishhook through his cheek to illustrate his addiction, prompted 774 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), according to their Annual Report published this week.

The advert, which carried the slogan: The average smoker needs over five thousand cigarettes a year and gives a helpline number, was one of a campaign of four television, and four print adverts, that were timed to coincide with new year's resolutions. . . .

The research, led by Dr Ekant Veer at the University of Bath, studied 200 reactions from long-term smokers when shown two different styles of anti-smoking adverts: a graphic image from Get unhooked; and a more gentle British Heart Foundation advert showing a cigarette filled with fatty deposits to illustrate the damage smoking does to the arteries.

The results, which are to be published in the Journal of Strategic Marketing, found that people on the verge of giving up were 22 per cent more likely to make a commitment to quitting after seeing the high-impact Unhooked advert than the Heart Foundation advert. However, those who had no conscious desire to quit reported a seven per cent greater commitment to quitting when presented with the softer, educational, Heart Foundation advert. . . .

"Our results show that campaigns would benefit from presenting different levels of advertising which cater for the varying levels of preparedness towards quitting of the people they are targeting."

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