Frequently Asked Questions About the Tips Campaign

The science shows that these types of hard-hitting ads help people quit smoking, save lives, and decrease the huge economic burden caused by cigarette smoking.

Despite the known dangers, smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the United States, killing more than 480,000 Americans each year. More than 16 million Americans are living with a smoking-related disease. Nearly 70% of adults who smoke cigarettes say they want to quit, and nearly half make a serious quit attempt each year.

The Tips From Former Smokers^® (Tips^®) campaign shares the truth about smoking through the lives of real people impacted by smoking-related illnesses. Despite the known dangers, cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the United States, killing more than 480,000 Americans each year.

In addition to the human cost, smoking takes a severe toll on our nation’s economy. Cigarette smoking cost the United States more than $600 billion in 2018, including more than $240 billion in healthcare spending and nearly $372 billion in lost productivity. Over half of the healthcare spending among adults is paid for by government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Research shows that educational efforts like Tips save lives and lower healthcare costs. From 2012–2018, CDC’s Tips campaign helped prevent an estimated 129,000 early deaths and helped save an estimated $7.3 billion in smoking-related healthcare costs.

The Tips campaign serves as an important counter to the $7.84 billion spent by the tobacco industry on advertising and promotion of cigarettes in 2020, a year when annual cigarette sales increased for the first time in 20 years. To put this into perspective, the Tips campaign that ran in 2019 cost less than what the tobacco industry spends in four days to market and promote tobacco products.

From 2012–2018, CDC estimates that more than 16.4 million people who smoke attempted to quit and approximately one million successfully quit because of the Tips campaign. In addition, in the first year of the campaign alone, an estimated 6 million nonsmokers talked with friends and family about the dangers of smoking. Every year the campaign is on air there is an immediate, sustained, and dramatic spike in calls to the national quitline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW, and in visits to the campaign website.

The true, personal stories shared in this campaign communicate in a very human way the damage and suffering that can be caused by smoking cigarettes. Hard-hitting media campaigns have been proven to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking and motivate people who smoke to quit.

Tips From Former Smokers^® (Tips^®) ads focus on many health issues caused by, associated with, or made worse by smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke, including:

• Asthma
• Buerger’s disease
• Cancer (colorectal, head and neck, kidney, lung, oral and throat)
• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• Diabetes complications
• Gum disease
• Heart disease
• HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) complications
• Mental health conditions (depression and anxiety)
• Peripheral artery disease (PAD)
• Preterm birth
• Stroke
• Vision loss

Hard-hitting media campaigns have been proven to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking and to motivate people who smoke to quit. Many studies have shown that ads carrying strong graphic and emotional messages about health consequences are more effective than other forms of advertising, such as humorous or emotionally neutral advertisements. Given the large scientific evidence base supporting this approach, CDC uses graphic and emotional advertisements in its Tips From Former Smokers^® (Tips^®) campaign and tests them to ensure they are effective among people who smoke.

Research shows that the Tips campaign has been effective in raising awareness about the dangers of smoking and helping people who smoke to quit.

• From 2012–2018, CDC estimates that more than 16.4 million people who smoke attempted to quit and approximately one million successfully quit because of the Tips campaign.
• From 2012–2018, CDC’s Tips campaign helped prevent an estimated 129,000 early deaths and helped save an estimated $7.3 billion in smoking-related healthcare costs.
• Other scientific studies have found that the Tips campaign has had an impact on increased calls to quitlines and increased knowledge of tobacco-related health risks.

The Institute of Medicine, National Cancer Institute, and U.S. Surgeon General have all recommended a national media campaign as part of a comprehensive approach for ending the tobacco use epidemic.

The Tips campaign not only educates the public about the negative consequences of tobacco smoking, but also provides a supportive call to action — “You Can Quit” — and directs people to free resources to help them quit successfully.

We understand the strong nature of these messages and have taken several steps within the conventions of broadcast advertising to make sure the Tips From Former Smokers^® (Tips^®) ads reach their primary target audience, which is adults. The ads may reach some children by virtue of the fact that they watch TV, read magazines, and view ads on the internet. However, no ads will be run on children’s programming (for example, Disney and Nickelodeon).

The people featured in the Tips From Former Smokers^® (Tips^®) campaign are not actors; they are real people telling their real stories. They come from a variety of states and backgrounds. They chose to tell their stories to help prevent other people from suffering the same consequences.

The Tips From Former Smokers^® (Tips^®) ads feature real people who have experienced health consequences as a result of smoking cigarettes and breathing secondhand smoke. These ads are not intended to suggest that all people who suffer from these problems smoke. They are intended to show the damage smoking can cause. The people featured in the ads are sharing their own stories in the hope that their experiences can help others.

It is CDC’s hope that all Americans will understand the importance of using effective strategies to reduce smoking and save lives. Research shows that the most effective smoking-cessation ads show the health consequences and emotional impact of long-term tobacco smoking, encourage people who smoke to quit, and provide information on how to quit.

Not all women who deliver a baby prematurely do so as a result of smoking, and not all mothers who smoke during pregnancy fail to carry to term. However, it’s important for women to know that smoking increases the risk for many problems with pregnancy and babies, including preterm birth, problems with the placenta that result in bleeding, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and that moms can reduce these risks by quitting smoking completely. State tobacco quitlines, which can be reached by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW, have special services for pregnant women who smoke. SmokefreeWomen.gov also provides information and resources just for women, including pregnant women.

The Tips From Former Smokers^® (Tips^®) ads featuring people with heart disease are not intended to suggest that all heart-related medical conditions result from smoking, but instead they are intended to show the damage smoking can cause. The U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that tobacco smoking causes heart disease; approximately one in four adult heart disease deaths in the United States are caused by cigarette smoking. The people who smoked that are featured in the ads, including those who developed heart disease as a result of smoking, are sharing their own stories in the hopes that their experiences can help others.

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States, accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year, or nearly 1 in 5 deaths. However, the harmful effects of smoking are not limited to the individual who smokes. Secondhand smoke exposure contributes to approximately 41,000 deaths among nonsmoking adults and 400 deaths in infants each year.

Although the primary audience for the  campaign is people who smoke cigarettes, raising awareness about the harmful effects of secondhand smoke on people who do not smoke is also a campaign goal. There is no safe amount of secondhand smoke exposure. Breathing even a little secondhand smoke can be harmful to health.

Some Tips ads focus on people who have had lung damage or severe asthma attacks that were triggered by secondhand smoke exposure. Secondhand smoke exposure can trigger heart attacks and cause heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults. Secondhand smoke also causes sickness and death in children, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Children who breathe secondhand smoke are also more likely to have lung problems, ear infections, and more frequent and severe asthma attacks.

Only 100% smokefree indoor environments can fully protect people who don’t smoke from the dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke. Science shows that separate “no smoking” sections do not protect people from secondhand smoke—neither does ventilation, filtering the air, or opening a window.

More information about the dangers of secondhand smoke exposure is available on CDC’s Secondhand Smoke page.

You can find information about your state’s tobacco laws by visiting the State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. Your state’s Tobacco Control Highlights Report provides an overview of state tobacco policies plus other helpful information about tobacco use in your state.

The American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation also provides information on smokefree policies in your community. A list of communities with comprehensive smokefree policies in indoor public areas is available on the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation website.

While it is true that some people who smoke do not die from smoking-related diseases, for every smoking-related death, at least 30 Americans live with a smoking-related illness. Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the United States, killing more than 480,000 Americans every year, or nearly 1 in every 5 deaths. The latest research shows that quitting smoking reduces the risk of premature death and can add as much as a decade to life expectancy. The best thing people who smoke can do to protect their health and that of their families from the harmful effects of smoking is to quit smoking completely.

There are several free resources to help people who smoke quit and stay smokefree.

Go online. Visit the How to Quit Smoking area. The Tips From Former Smokers^® website is also available in Spanish, at CDC.gov/consejos.

Call a quitline. A quitline provides free coaching over the phone to help you quit smoking. Quitline coaches can answer questions, help you develop a quit plan, and provide support. Coaching help is available in several languages:

• English: 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669)
• Spanish: 1-855-DÉJELO-YA (1-855-335-3569)
• Mandarin and Cantonese: 1-800-838-8917
• Korean: 1-800-556-5564
• Vietnamese: 1-800-778-8440

Sign up for texts. Text QUITNOW to 333888 to enroll in a free texting program. Spanish-speakers can text DÉJELO YA to 333888. (Message and data rates may apply.) You will receive text messages with quit smoking advice, tips, and motivating messages for becoming smokefree and living a healthier life. You can sign up or opt-out at any time.

Use an app. The quitSTART app is a free smartphone app that helps you quit smoking with tailored tips, inspiration, and challenges.

Campaign resources available on this website include:

• Overviews of the health conditions featured in the campaign
• Real stories and videos of the people featured in the commercials
• Links to social media sites and content
• English and Spanish campaign resources
• A quitting assistance area

Other free and low-cost campaign materials are available at the Media Campaign Resource Center (MCRC). These materials can be used free of charge for educational or information purposes or as part of community or organization programs to decrease smoking and encourage quitting. They include:

• Low-resolution TV, print, radio, online, and out-of-home ads for use by educators, health care providers, and community organizations
• Continuous-loop videos for doctors’ offices, clinics, etc.
• Public service announcements (PSAs) about quitting smoking and the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.