Gov. Gray Davis (D-CA) is releasing two anti-tobacco spots which were killed in the mid-’90s by the administration of his predecessor, Gov. Pete Wilson (R-CA). The ads, considered some of the strongest anti-tobacco messages ever produced by the state, were created by Los Angeles-based agency asher&partners, which has handled the California Department of Health Services account for the past six years.
One of the ads, "Nicotine Soundbites," consists of actual footage of tobacco industry executives testifying that nicotine is not addictive before a congressional hearing in ’94. Asher&partners creative director Bruce Dundore said the spot was assembled in-house by his agency. However, it was pulled after tobacco giant RJ Reynolds threatened a lawsuit against the state’s health services department, according to Colleen Stevens, chief of the media campaign unit of the state’s tobacco control section that is under the aegis of the California Department of Health Services. The lawsuit never came to fruition.
The second spot-entitled "Insurance"-never aired. Directed by Jesse Dylan via bicoastal HKM Productions (he is now with bicoastal Straw Dogs), the ad reveals that two large conglomerates control both tobacco companies and health insurance providers, which give reduced premiums to nonsmokers. Dylan said "It’s important for people to realize what’s going on, so it’s good to get that message back out there."
The ad reportedly doesn’t name the companies, but Stevens identified them as New York-based Loews Corp. and B.A.T. Industries (British American Tobacco). There is some question as to whether the spot, produced in ’95, is entirely accurate today. Stevens said that since that ad was made, B.A.T. has spun off its insurance holdings, including Farmers Insurance, into an independent entity. However, Stevens noted that Loews still owns Lorillard Tobacco and remains "an active player" in the insurance field. She and Dundore both said the spot will be reviewed and edited to ensure its accuracy for airing.
The resurrection of the two spots is part of a broad effort to step up the state’s anti-tobacco initiative. Last month, the Davis administration replaced 366 tobacco billboard advertisements throughout the state with anti-tobacco messages.
"I believe the time has come to tell the truth," Gov. Davis said in a press release. "I believe it’s time to stand up for California’s children … against the Joe Camels and Marlboro Men and other seductive messages of addiction. Our ads will tell the truth in a plain, unvarnished fashion."
Davis’ actions represent a "significant policy shift," according to University of California San Francisco medical school professor and tobacco researcher Stanton Glantz, who sits on the oversight committee for the anti-tobacco program and, along with the health community, has been "clamoring since the mid-’90s to get these ads released."
"What happened was that in the early years of the program we had real aggressive ads and smoking was going down very fast in California," Glantz said. The state’s tobacco education program was initiated in ’88. The first broadcast ads aired in ’90. "But when the ads got pulled back [by the Wilson administration]," Glantz continued, "smoking stopped decreasing."
Anti-tobacco activists charged that the Wilson administration was going soft on the tobacco industry, and that triggered "a long battle, absolute trench warfare between the health community and the Wilson administration," Glantz continued. "The one thing that’s very clear," he said, "based on empirical evidence from California and other states-and also research on the California campaign that was conducted by the tobacco companies, which we got a hold of through various litigation-is that these strong anti-tobacco industry messages are the key to an effective campaign. Tobacco companies sell cigarettes by being friendly. What these ads do is say ‘No, you can’t trust these guys.’ It undercuts their whole marketing strategy. So what Davis did is wonderful."
Dundore is also pleased the old spots are getting airtime. "It’s information," he said, "and the more we can provide the better, because smoking is a completely unnecessary way to die." What’s more, he added, "We’re proud of all the work we do, and we like to see it on the air."
"Nicotine Soundbites" and "Insurance" are two of 19 produced or proposed spots that are in various stages of being approved by the Governor’s office. They include: spots that are part of a forthcoming California campaign that will target specific minority groups via multiple ethnic specialty agencies; a mix of what are considered among the most effective commercials from other states’ anti-tobacco efforts; and ads that are part of asher&partners’ latest campaign, "Voices," a package of documentary-style messages that tells the personal stories of real people who have been adversely impacted by the tobacco industry.
According to Anita Gore, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Health Services, "none of the ads have been disapproved." However only six have thus far been revealed to the public, including "Nicotine Soundbites" and "Insurance." Stevens said most of those ads began running last week ("Insurance," will air once it’s reviewed and revised). The remaining four spots that have been publicly announced are: "Cowboy" and "Pam Laffin" which were created by Peter Favat and Richard Herstek of Boston-based Arnold Communications for the Massachusetts Department of Health Services; and the first two commercials in the "Voices" campaign.
"Cowboy" features the brother of the Marlboro Man-the late Philip Morris icon who died from smoking-related causes. The brother is "talking about how it’s not very independent to die from smoking," Stevens said. "All those images that the tobacco industry tries to give you, rugged and outdoors and independent, and the brother says it’s not that independent when you’re tied to a bunch of tubes." "Pam Laffin" features a girl in her late 20s who has severe emphysema caused by smoking, and had to have a lung transplant at the age of 24. "Pam Laffin" and "Cowboy" were directed by Errol Morris, then of Picture Park, Boston. (Morris is now repped for spots by bicoastal/ international @radical.media.)
Stevens explained that as more and more states have budgets to target smoking, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun pooling anti-tobacco ads for use by other states. California, Massachusetts and Florida have all shared spots, Stevens said. Arnold Communications handles the Massachusetts account while Florida’s anti-smoking initiative is handled by Crispin Porter+Bogusky Advertising, Miami. Other states with significant anti-tobacco media budgets include Arizona and Oregon. Asher&partners handles the campaign for the Oregon Health Division, while Arizona’s agency is Riester Robb, Phoenix.
Meanwhile, the initial two ads in the "Voices" campaign-"Favorite Memories" and "Backyard"-were directed by asher&partners’ associate creative director John Krueger. Both feature a boy-a different one in each spot-whose father has died from smoking. In "Favorite Memories," seven-year-old Zack sits on his bed and talks about his favorite memories of his father: getting a ride on his shoulders, watching a movie, helping him work outside. "I miss him with all my heart," Zack says at the end. In the second spot, 13-year-old Brian recounts the day his father told him he was dying: "We went outside. He was tense, and then he told me and we both cried." The spots are interspersed with the on-screen message: "Zack/ Brian lost his father to lung cancer caused by smoking. How has the tobacco industry hurt you?" A toll-free number, 800 4 A VOICE is followed by the tag: "We’ll give you a voice." The Governor’s office said the public access number will serve people who want to quit smoking, people who want to get involved in local anti-tobacco efforts, and people who want to share their story about how tobacco has impacted their life.
Dundore hopes several more "Voices" ads will be released this year, and predicts that the campaign "is going to be huge" in terms of its impact. The ads are effective because they focus on the "little shared moments" that people miss most when they lose someone they love. He also said the access number "gives people who have been hurt by the tobacco industry an outlet and a way to get involved." Most importantly, Dundore said, the ads are meant to empower and educate, because "an informed public can motivate."
The release of some of the remaining spots is being delayed for various reasons. Gore said that spots targeting minorities are being held until the full ethnic media package is assembled, which should happen within the next few months. This year the state will spend more than $17 million on advertising to the general public, and an additional $5.3 million targeting specific ethnic communities. (By contrast, according to the Governor’s office, tobacco companies spend $1.3 million a day on advertising in California, 20 times what the state spends to counteract their message.)
Talent issues-wherein an actor in a certain spot is not a member of the Screen Actors Guild-has also delayed the approval and/or release of some of the spots, Gore added.
Glantz, however, contended that the delay in approval and release of some of the spots is due in part to a miscommunication between the Governor’s office and the oversight committee, a result of the actions of some "holdovers from the Wil-son administration."
"The full [slate] of materials that were approved by the oversight committee in February never made it to the Governor’s office. There was a whole series of storyboards-from the ‘Voices’ campaign and another campaign that the Governor’s office didn’t even know about until a few days before the press conference they held [last month]. But I think the Governor’s office is ironing that out. And I think what it’s going to do is put California back in a leadership position in terms of tobacco-control advertising."
