SS 16.00-17.30 Special sessions

"SMOKE AND WIN" - COUNTER CAMPAIGNING BY TOBACCO INDUSTRY

A large scale smoking cessation campaign (Quit and Win) was arranged in May 1996 within the framework of the WHO/EURO CINDI Programme. Altogether 25 countries arranged the campaign. Out of the 70 000 smokers who registered some 50 000 were from European countries. The requested cessation period to be eligible to win any prize was four weeks.

Simultaneously with the Quit and Win campaign international tobacco companies launched their own "Smoke and Win" campaigns in the European countries where advertising is allowed. Smokers got change to win prizes e.g. by sending certain amount of empty cigarette packages to the company office. Duration of the campaigns was longer (two months) than the Quit and Win campaign.

Results from the previous smoking cessation campaigns indicate that some 15 to 20 % of the participants manage to stop smoking completely and many others for several months. Critical for the success are the first three months. It seems obvious that the tobacco industry's counter campaigns aimed to get the quitters (including participants of the Quit and Win campaign) to relapse into smoking again. The big international companies were naturally able to offer very attractive prizes.

Details of the counter activity of the tobacco industry will be presented.

Smoke Free Europe Conference Abstracts - 19 SEP 1996

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