Tobacco Control and Smoking

Graphic Warnings

Ad Campaigns

THE ADRIAN SERIES

Overview
New hard-hitting television advertisements showing the devastating impact smoking has on the lives of real New Zealanders began screening on 1 June 2008. The series of six documentary style advertisements feature Adrian Pilkington, a 52-year-old from Auckland, who is dying of mouth cancer caused by smoking. He has only about 6-12 months to live.

Objectives
The aim of the advertisements is to personalise the new graphic warnings on cigarette packets, in particular the ‘smoking causes mouth cancer’ warning, and to help prevent some of the 4,700 smoking related deaths each year.

New approach
Telling Adrian’s powerful and emotional story is a joint collaboration between the Ministry of Health and The Quit Group, which runs the national freephone Quitline. The endframes of the advertisements encourage smokers to talk to their health professional or call the Quitline/visit www.quit.org.nz if they are thinking about quitting. This is a new approach for quit smoking advertisements in New Zealand and reflect the Ministry of Health’s New Zealand Smoking Cessation Guidelines, which were printed in August 2007. The Guidelines aim to put more emphasis on smoking cessation in primary care.

Campaign duration
The Adrian series of advertisements is scheduled to run for three months initially from 1 June to 31 August 2008. This ‘Adrian series’ will be the first stage in an ongoing campaign to personalise the new graphic warnings on cigarette packets.

Watch the new ads
To view the new advertisements visit The Quit Group website link below: http://www.quit.org.nz/page/media/campaigns/healthWarningsAdrian.php

Questions and Answers
Question and Answers about the new Adrian advertisements (Word, 309 KB)

Page last updated: 12 June 2008