So you have decided to submit an anti-tobacco commercial, have read over the Official Rules and Requirements and still have questions? Read on.
1. Who is the primary audience for the Be a Reel Hero contest entries?
3. What elements are not allowed in the commercial?
4. What elements should I be careful of?
The following facts about tobacco use in California, tobacco industry marketing or secondhand smoke are for background and information purposes. Using tobacco facts in your submission is not required. For additional information and facts, see the To Learn More section below.
Countering Pro Tobacco Messaging
To learn more about tobacco use and programs in California, visit these sites:
Check out these sites for tips and tricks on filming and production:
The California Department of Public Health’s primary target audience is adults, age 24 to 54. While we all would like kids to smoke less, experience has demonstrated that changing the attitudes and smoking rates of adults have the greatest positive impact on youth smoking rates. By changing the environment we all live in, we increase the likelihood that children will grow up tobacco-free. All entries should be targeted to California’s adult population.
To view a selection of recent commercials for the California Department of Public Health, visit www.TobaccoFreeCA.com/ads_tv.html.
- Profanity, vulgar or inappropriate content.
- Dangerous stunts or unsafe conduct.
- Company logos, product logos or trademarks. This includes those visible on clothing worn by talent in the commercial or cigarette brand names.
- Distinctive packaging or branded elements, such as actual cigarette brand names and packaging.
- Copyrighted or trademarked items, including but not limited to music, audio, speech/voiceovers, photography, video, supers, or other audiovisual materials.
- Smoking cues, which are actions that make smoking visually enticing and appealing. In some instances, smoking scenes may be necessary to get a certain message across, just be careful to make smoking look like an activity you would NOT want to participate in.
- Glamorizing and making smoking look “sexy”.
- A clear message which will motivate people to quit smoking and/or not start smoking.
- A clear message about the dangers of secondhand smoke.
- Information countering pro tobacco influences and raising awareness about the tactics of the tobacco industry, such as their glamorization of smoking.
- General education on the impact of smoking, such as the harmful health effects and increased risk for tobacco related diseases.
- Original scores and images that deliver this important message.
- A lot of creativity!
One (1) grand prize will be awarded to the entry with the highest score. The grand prize will be:
- Airing of winning commercial on television in California
Entries will not be returned.
- Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable disease and death, killing one out of two smokers.
- Despite having one of the lowest smoking rates, there are still nearly 4 million smokers in our state, 3.6 million adults and 200,000 kids. That is equal to the population of the entire state of Oregon.
- For men across all ethnic groups, smoking is decreasing. Adult male smoking is highest among African Americans at 21 percent, followed by white men at 17 percent, Hispanics at 16 percent, and Asians at 15 percent.
- Across all California populations, women smoke at lower rates than men. Among women, those that smoke the most are African American (17 percent) and white women (14 percent). Smoking kills more women than breast, ovarian and uterine cancers combined.
- The first statewide smokers quit line in the nation was established in California in 1992. The California Smokers' Helpline has addiction experts on staff that have proven quit methods. Working with the Helpline will double a smoker’s chance of quitting.
- Smoking kills more people than drugs, alcohol, murder, suicide, car crashes and AIDS combined.
- Every day 1,200 people die from cigarettes in the U.S.
- The tobacco industry makes 5.6 trillion cigarettes a year – that’s 900 cigarettes for every man, woman, and child in the world.
- Cigarettes are designed to hook people. Tobacco companies use additives, like ammonia to increase the addictiveness of nicotine.
- The tobacco industry provides donations to community organizations to gain acceptance.
- Secondhand smoke is toxic and causes tens of thousands of deaths each year in the United States.
- In January 2006, The California Air Resources Board designated secondhand smoke as a toxic air contaminant in the same category as toxic pollutants like car exhaust, asbestos, and cyanide.
- According to the U.S. Surgeon General, there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
- Secondhand smoke causes cancer, heart disease, sudden infant death syndrome, low birth weight, pre-term delivery, asthma in adults and children, chronic ear infections, and other serious respiratory illnesses.
- While everyone exposed to secondhand smoke is at risk, there is a special concern for children, pregnant women and the elderly who are especially vulnerable to the adverse health effects caused by secondhand smoke.
- Secondhand smoke contains more than 50 cancer-causing chemicals and is a known human carcinogen.
- For non-smokers even brief exposure to tobacco smoke has immediate effects and over time increases the risk for heart disease and lung cancer.
- Smoking is not a protected right under the constitution.
- A smoke-free home is not a privilege - all Californians should have the right to breathe air free from toxic tobacco smoke. The right of nonsmokers to breathe smoke-free air supersedes a smoker's desire to smoke.
- Secondhand smoke can pass between apartments through openings for electrical wiring, light fixtures, plumbing, gaps in baseboards and ductwork.
- Even if smoking is not allowed in your apartment, if your neighbor smokes, you and your family may still be at risk of exposure.
