“We’re worried about you”

A simple comment can pack an emotional punch, especially for people who smoke, write Melissa Ledger and Sarah Beasley.


Cancer Council WA has been leading anti-smoking public education activities for more than 20 years through its Make Smoking History Program. Our latest TV commercial, Worried About You, is the 14th WA-made TV commercial and is central to our latest public education campaign.

Melissa Ledger

Make Smoking History began in 2000 under the name ‘Target 15’ at a time when smoking rates in WA were 22.5%. We soon changed our name to reflect the breadth of our tobacco control work. Twenty-two years later and coupled with a long-term commitment from our funding partners WA Health and Heathway, we have delivered 58 bursts of campaign activity. 

Some might wonder why we are still making anti-smoking campaigns with current smoking rates in WA hovering around 10%. Isn’t the job done?

Tobacco is still the number one cause of preventable death and disease in Australia. In 2018-19, close to $127 million was spent on treating tobacco-caused diseases in WA hospitals, and there were about 13,000 hospitalisations attributable to tobacco. 

Anti-smoking campaigns have played a pivotal role in the significant decline in smoking rates in WA. They work on multiple levels as part of a comprehensive approach to tobacco control, prompting quit attempts, encouraging people to stay smoke-free and preventing young people from starting.

Critically, when campaign funding is removed or reduced, you can expect declining smoking rates to plateau or even increase. We know our campaigns can also generate community support for smoke-free policies and regulations.

Our latest campaign is a departure from previous campaigns such as 16 Cancers and Voice Box, which used graphic imagery to highlight negative health consequences of smoking to prompt quit attempts. The research is clear on the efficacy of campaigns depicting hard-hitting health harms, but different messages work for different people. Worried About You portrays a father/daughter narrative that aims to prompt people who smoke to think about how their habit is emotionally affecting the most important people in their worlds.

When talking to people who smoke in our formative research, it was clear that concerned loved ones was a pressure point that could motivate quit attempts. 

Many people who smoke can relate to being asked by their children why they smoke and when they are going to quit. Children worry about what will happen if their loved ones become ill or die early because of tobacco. They know about the harms of smoking from school and seeing our ads on television. 

While some people may not be worried about the health impacts of smoking for themselves, no one wants to cause their loved ones distress, which is why it is a powerful motivator to quit smoking.

Knowing this would be a campaign that would pull at the heartstrings, we conducted careful testing on this new concept to ensure it was perceived as realistic and relevant. We also wanted to convey empathy and encourage people who have tried quitting many times before that they too can quit.

As we improved each version of the ad, people increasingly took notice of the end voice-over “Quitting’s hard, that’s why we’ve put all the best tips in one place.” People appreciated the acknowledgement that quitting is hard, and found this line to be genuine, empathetic, hopeful and motivating.

At a population level, we can quote the cost of smoking to the health system, hospitalisations, QALYs, lost productivity, the list is long. But at an individual level, the less income you earn, the more likely you are to smoke. 

This means that cigarettes are taking up more of your pay cheque, and you may find yourself in financial distress. Since stress is a trigger to smoke, this cycle can be hard to break. If you then become ill from smoking and can’t work, it is going to become that much harder to make ends meet.

We strongly believe nobody should live in poverty, be socially excluded or die early because of tobacco. This is why, in addition to campaigns, part of our team works directly with community, health and corrective services to address smoking in their organisations. 

Part of our team also works in policy and research to influence top-down strategies, such as reducing the supply of tobacco. For our anti-smoking work to be most effective, we will continue to bring ads to TV, radio, digital and other media platforms as they underpin a comprehensive state-wide program to address these many aspects of Make Smoking History.

If you know someone who wants to quit, go to www.makesmokinghistory.org.au/tips.

Receiving personalised support from a Quitline counsellor is another avenue that will increase a person’s chances of quitting for good. 

ED: Melissa Ledger is the cancer prevention and research director with Cancer Council WA, and Sarah Beasley is the Make Smoking History campaign senior coordinator.