Little Rock, AR — (Jan. 8, 2003) Nine out of 10 youths reported they had seen, heard or read an ad or announcement against smoking during the first six months of the Arkansas Department of Health’s Stamp Out Smoking media and public relations campaign. Specifically, the SOS campaign was recalled by 73 percent of the youths surveyed.

“We started the program by focusing on educating our teens and young adults,” Dr. Fay Boozman, director of the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH), said.  “They are a target for much of the advertising and marketing by tobacco companies.  We know if we can prevent these kids from ever using tobacco, we can improve the health of Arkansans.”

A portion of the state’s settlement with the tobacco industry has been earmarked for education and prevention programs as well as anti-tobacco media and public relations campaigns such as SOS.

The phone survey, conducted by Opinion Research Associates, Inc., of Little Rock, asked general market and African-American youths (between the ages of 12 and 18) questions about radio, television and print ads that ran from February through June 2002. At least one youth from every county was surveyed.  Survey results help ADH officials determine whether or not the media campaign is reaching its target.

“The numbers are quite remarkable when you realize that the campaign has only been in the market since February 2002,” Boozman said.

Fifty-four percent of general market youths said the ads were effective in influencing them not to smoke, and 30 percent said the ads were somewhat effective.

Sixty-nine percent of African-American youths said the ads were very effective, and 17 percent said they were somewhat effective in influencing them not to smoke.

Of the series of print ads, 79 percent of the general market and 78 percent of African-American youths said they remembered ads saying that cigarettes contain the same ingredients as bug spray, formaldehyde and cyanide.

Seventy-four percent of the general market youths and 72 percent of the African-American youths surveyed remembered the SOS radio ad that said smoking kills more people each year than AIDS, murder and suicide combined.

Of the three television ads that ran, the “Debi” spot, which featured a personal message from a woman who still smokes despite having a tracheotomy, was recalled by 63 percent of the general market and 57 percent of the African-American youths polled.

“The exciting thing about these results is that the kids aren’t just remembering the ads. They are able to recall the factual information in the ads,” Boozman said.  “That means we aren’t just reaching them with good ads, we are educating them about the dangers of tobacco use.”

Of those who had seen advertising, 91 percent of the general market respondents and 93 percent of the African-American respondents saw television ads. Radio ads were heard by 60 percent of the general sample and 63 percent of the minority sample. Print ads were seen by 64 percent of the general sample and 60 percent of the African American sample.

The youth survey is just a portion of the evaluation procedures that are being used by the ADH to track and measure the effectiveness of the campaign.  Also surveyed was a random group of adults, an added target audience for the second phase of the campaign.  Results from the adult survey will be used as a baseline to compare with results from the benchmark survey that will be conducted in June of 2003.

Even though adults were not the main target of the campaign’s first phase, 44 percent still recalled seeing or hearing one of the SOS ads.  The same TV and radio spots that were most remembered by the youths also were recalled by adults.

“We are laying the groundwork to measure how much we are able to change the understanding and beliefs of Arkansans about smoking,” Boozman said.  “That’s the overall goal of the program.  We want to stop people before they start to use tobacco products.  If they already do, we want to give them the tools to help them quit.”

The SOS campaign is currently running a new series of radio, television and print ads in media outlets across the state, which expands the campaign’s focus to include adults.  When the current ad run ends in June, surveys will be conducted again to measure the campaign’s effectiveness.

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