The federal government’s $28 million campaign to cut tobacco use received failing grades today for its performance in year one. Health Canada’s TV and print advertising campaign was panned by the Non-Smokers’ Rights Association, one of the health organizations that campaigned for over two years for the support needed to increase funding for tobacco control in Canada.

The Association’s report, Two Thumbs Down — Canada’s Tobacco Control Mass Media Campaign, describes a confused campaign that ignores “best practices” for tobacco control campaigns and pursues themes with little or no strategic public health value. “When compared to successful tobacco control mass media campaigns in other jurisdictions,” said Garfield Mahood, author of the review, “Health Canada’s campaign simply does not measure up. And the tragedy is that when dealing with the tobacco epidemic, when campaigns like this strike out, there are costs down the road. Thousands of kids become addicted and thousands of people die.”

The report points out several major problems with the campaign. The first ominous sign of trouble was the inability of the campaign to launch. There was no effective launch, an embarrassment given that, with $28 million available for mass media in year one, this campaign is the largest of its kind in government.

Second, the Health Canada campaign displayed an ongoing fatal reluctance to discuss the role played by the tobacco industry in the perpetuation of the tobacco epidemic. “Tobacco industry denormalization is the core theme in the landmark campaigns in the United States,” said Mahood. “Refusing to discuss the industry’s role as the disease vector in the tobacco epidemic is like refusing to discuss the role of rats in the Bubonic Plague. Or the mosquito in a malaria epidemic.”

The report sounds an alarm with respect to the government clawing back money earmarked for the landmark tobacco control campaign. The report points out that that the ads featuring Elvis Stojko and Joseé Chouniard broadcast during the Olympics were not quite what they appeared to be. Most viewers thought they were youth smoking prevention testimonials. In fact, the report reveals, they were not Health Canada ads at all. “They were give-the-government-a-profile ads produced by the Communication Canada office of the ‘controversial’ Communication Co-ordination Service Branch of Public Works Canada,” said Mahood. “These ads had much to do with raising the government’s visibility during the Olympics and very little to do with the prevention of youth smoking. And as stand-alone tobacco control advertisements, they were almost a complete waste.”

The NSRA released its report to cast some light on a seriously floundering campaign. The Association is worried that if the campaign is not fixed, and soon, more money will be diverted from the government’s Tobacco Control Program. “The answer is not to pull the plug on the campaign. That would be disastrous. The solution is to fix whatever is wrong. And it will take public criticism to force the fix,” said Mahood. “Two Thumbs Down just sounds the alarm.”

For more information, contact:

Garfield Mahood, Executive Director (416) 928-2900 Cell: (416) 451-4285