Empathy replacing enmity

New, documentary-style public service announcements (PSAs) for Tobacco Free Florida (US) are said to take a ‘refreshingly respectful approach to encouraging smokers to quit,’ according to a story by David Griner for Ad Week.
Instead of extreme scare tactics, the PSAs, by the Alma advertising agency, acknowledge that smokers are often fully aware of the dangers and costs of smoking and that they’re struggling to make the right choice.
They know smoking is dangerous. They know it’s expensive. They know it makes them a bad influence on their children. And they know they need to quit.
The PSAs are said to be aimed at Florida’s rural communities, where, the agency says, smoking rates are 33 percent higher than they are in the rest of the state.
The real-life vignettes introduce smokers – most often working parents under daily financial stress – who admit they’re tired of the physical and financial toll of smoking.
The campaign is based on Alma research into both its target audience and the tactics that might change their behaviors.
Angela Rodriguez, Alma’s vice president of strategic planning and insights, said that ethnographic research last year had indicated that quitting was driven by the hopes smokers had for themselves and their children.
“These aspirations showed that cessation is about bigger, longer-term dreams more than about being scared or lectured into the right decision,” she was quoted as saying.
“We also learned that those same scare tactic approaches don’t always connect.”
The full story is at: http://www.adweek.com/creativity/these-incredibly-crafted-anti-smoking-ads-drop-the-fear-tactics-in-favor-of-empathy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Adfreak+(Adfreak)