Shock tactic campaign links atherosclerosis to smoking

By Richard Hurley London

Cigarettes and arteries oozing fatty gunk feature in the British Heart Foundation's £4m new anti-smoking campaign. The slogan "Give up before you clog up" accompanies the television, poster, and newspaper advertisements (figure). The imagery aims to reinforce the link between smoking and atherosclerosis, which can lead to coronary heart disease.

BHF

Charles George, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said, "Although smoking rates have come down, they are plateauing--it needs an extra effort to take us down further."

The campaign is mostly funded by the Department of Health: "It's a hard hitting campaign and that's good, because it's a big threat with a lot of lives at risk. I'd like to see 1.5 million fewer smokers by 2010. It's a fairly ambitious target but it's one we're desperate to achieve," explained the minister for public health, Melanie Johnson.

Visit www.bhf.org.uk/smoking to see the television advertisement



studentBMJ 2004;12:45-88 February ISSN 0966-6494