In Malaysia, government has spent about RM100 million of taxpayers’ money for the quit smoking campaign (code name as Tak Nak in Malay language which means Don’t Want) two years ago. Unfortunately, based on the latest findings, Health Minister has realized that the anti-smoking campaign has failed miserably - there was no indication that the number of smokers had gone down.
I believe that the message is not strong enough. May be the poster designers (heard was done by Limkokwing University of Creative Technology) or the authority was just too conservative in this campaign. Look at the poster - smoking causes black and yellow teeth? Though smoking does really cause that, public would not care about it and most of us have just ignored it. In order to ensure something that goes into people’s mind and be there for longer period with huge impact, anti smoking posters probably need to send an extreme message.
Other countries are more aggressive in anti smoking campaign. Came across tobacco warning cigarette packs in Australia from the Internet. The authority there has really made a bold move to get its citizen to quit smoking. I lost my appetite immediately after seeing the following pictures. They are gross.
Don’t you agree that the last one is really hardcore?
Not enough?
If you think Australia government is hardcore. Look at what British authority has done in its latest anti smoking advertisement in year 2007!
The complete tag line of the campaign is “The average smoker needs over five thousand cigarettes a year. Get unhooked“. This poster with fish hook through the mouth attracted one of the highest numbers of complaints the country’s advertising standards watchdog has ever received. However, it does not deter the Department of Health effort in this anti-smoking adverts to shock smokers into breaking the habit.
And now compare with the one in Malaysia.
Which one has left a stronger message?
Can a anti-smoking campaign be efficient without spending such a huge amount of money, RM100 million (U$30 million) for a developing country like Malaysia with less than 30 million population?
Last updated by one of the blog readers, Tenzo, Singapore government has gone even a step further with a gruesome television advertisement. The tag line is “Quitting is hard. Not Quitting is Harder.” Forget about the horror movie, this one will make you drop your pants.
Don’t watch it alone.
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Angie Tan // Jun 30, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Yeap…
The anti-smoking ads in Aust and UK are quite hard-hitting and pulls no punches. I’ve seen both and it is frightening!! The one which gross me out was the ad with the over-sized human heart, where the fat was squeezed out of the aorta. That was creepy….
But, did it deter my friend from smoking. It sure did. She dialed that 131-QUIT or something in Aust… But came back to Malaysia to smoke even more!!