Tips Campaign Matte Article for Asian American Communities
This prewritten matte article about the Tips From Former Smokers® campaign is ready for adaptation and use by journalists, bloggers, and other members of the media and for organizations’ newsletters.
CDC’s Tips From Former Smokers Campaign Airing a New Round of Hard-Hitting Commercials
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is continuing its federally funded national tobacco education campaign—Tips From Former Smokers® (Tips®)—with hard-hitting TV commercials that feature real people living with the health effects of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure. The Tips campaign also tells the personal stories of family members taking care of loved ones living with a smoking-related illness or disability, as they share the impact smoking has had on all their lives.
The campaign ads, which air beginning on March 6, 2023, highlight the immediate and long-term damage caused by smoking and encourage people who smoke to quit.
Smoking increases the risk for cancer, heart disease, and stroke, which are leading causes of death for Asian Americans. While cigarette smoking rates among Asian Americans have fallen in recent years—from 13.3% in 2005 to 8.0% in 2020—smoking remains a preventable cause of disease, disability, and death.
Rico F., an Asian American Tips participant, started smoking at age 14. He was diagnosed with cancer at age 45 and was determined to quit so that he could enjoy a healthy life with his family. Since quitting smoking for good, Rico, a cancer survivor, is passionate about sharing his story in order to help others who smoke to quit. Rico feels blessed to be alive to spend time with his family and watch his children finish college. He believes that it’s never too late to quit smoking. “As a former smoker, I know how hard it is to quit. Addiction is a very difficult battle to win, but it can be done!” Rico said.
CDC launched the first Tips campaign in 2012 to lower smoking rates and save lives. From 2012–2018, CDC estimates that approximately one million people successfully quit smoking and more than 16.4 million attempted to quit because of the Tips campaign.
“Smoking doesn’t just kill; it can disable, disfigure and rob people who smoke of their independence,” said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, PhD, MPH, director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. “While some of these ads can be difficult to watch, they show the challenges that real people face every day as a result of smoking in a way that statistics cannot. By providing information, resources, and motivation, the Tips campaign has proven to be highly effective in helping people across the country quit smoking.”
Quitting Help
CDC has created additional print ads in three Asian languages (Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese) that encourage people who smoke to quit and direct them to the Asian Smokers’ Quitline.* Callers can receive free help quitting from coaches who are fluent in Asian languages. The quitline also offers a free two-week supply of nicotine patches for callers who want them.
Following are the toll-free numbers that appear in these ads:
- Mandarin and Cantonese*: 1-800-838-8917
- Korean*: 1-800-556-5564
- Vietnamese*: 1-800-778-8440
- English: 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669)
*The Asian Smokers’ Quitline is operated by the University of California, San Diego.
For more information about the Tips campaign and resources for quitting smoking, visit CDC.gov/tips.
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