Terrie was a young woman in high school when she started smoking. Her father smoked, and with more and more of her friends smoking, Terrie soon found herself lighting up in social settings. “It was the cool thing to do,” she said.

Do your kids want you to quit smoking?

It’s one of the most common reasons people quit - for their loved ones. Wanting to be around longer for your partner, kids or grandkids is a great motivator to kick the habit.

Meet Mick

Breathlessness from emphysema can be terrifying, as Mick Roberts knows all too well. At the time of filming, Mick was 49 years old. He had been a long-term smoker until he was diagnosed with emphysema and quit immediately. Mick is in his late 50s now, and unfortunately he still deals with the horrible health effects from his smoking habit every day.

From Every Quitter

When we asked smokers what was the main reason their quit attempts had failed, the most common answer by far was friends and family smoking around them.

Last Dance

Imagine having your life tragically cut short, all because of smoking. Imagine having to tell the one you love you won’t be able to share the rest of your life with them. Think about having to tell your children you won’t be there to support them in their times of need.

Sponge

‘Sponge’ is a remake of a 1979 television advertisement which was so successful in its day that tobacco lobbyists attempted to have it banned. In the ad, a sponge is used to demonstrate the amount of cancer-producing tar which goes into the lungs of a pack-a-day a smoker over the course of one year. A pair of hands wrings out a tar-blackened sponge and the tar can be seen overflowing into a beaker.

16 Cancers

In February 2015 Make Smoking History unveiled its brand new, hard-hitting campaign ‘16 Cancers’, which highlighted both the common and lesser known cancers that can be caused by smoking, and emphasised the immediate and long-term consequences these cancers can have on a person’s life.

The campaign aired three times during 2015 and featured powerful WA-made television advertising depicting the shocking effects of smoking-related cancers and their capacity to take away life’s simple pleasures, such as speaking and eating.

Zita's Story

In April and July 2006, Make Smoking History launched a new personal testimony campaign, ‘Zita’.  Zita Roberts, a 37 year old mother of three who was terminally ill from lung cancer caused by her smoking, bravely shared her story to encourage others to quit and save them from a similar fate.

Sadly, Zita passed away in 2007. In May and September 2014, Zita's family generously allowed the advertisements to once again be used in WA, with Zita's children bravely adding their own personal messages to their mother's campaign.

Never Give Up

In February 2013 Make Smoking History launched the hard hitting 'How You're Seen' television advertisement, developed in Western Australia.  It informed smokers of the social and emotional impact smoking can have on family, friends and the smoker themselves. 

The 'pull' advertisement 'Never Give Up Giving Up', developed by Quit Victoria. 

How You're Seen

In April and October/December 2012, Make Smoking History ran the hard-hitting 'How You're Seen' television campaign. The campaign highlighted the social and emotional impact smoking can have on family, friends and the smoker themselves.

Best Intentions

In September 2011 Make Smoking History launched the state-wide campaign ‘Best Intentions’, which was originally developed by the Cancer Institute NSW in 2008. The advertisement focused on the regret smokers feel for not having quit earlier and the reduced quality of life for the smoker and their family with the onset of a smoking-related disease such as cancer. The campaign aimed to remind smokers that there is never going to be a perfect time to quit smoking and the best decision they can make is to quit now.

Adrian's Regret

In September 2010 and April 2011 Make Smoking History ran ‘Adrian’s Regret’ which aimed to increase smokers’ awareness of smoking-related head and neck cancers. The ‘Adrian’s Regret’ campaign was originally developed by the Ministry of Health New Zealand and The Quit Group New Zealand, and featured New Zealand man Adrian Pilkington. At 52, Adrian was diagnosed with terminal mouth cancer after smoking for over 30 years. In the advertisement Adrian talks openly and honestly about how much his life changed since being diagnosed and how much he regrets smoking.

Sadly Adrian passed away on August 6 2009, at just 53. Before his death Adrian expressed his wish that his story be used to encourage more smokers to quit. The advertisements all finish with his words “It’s not worth it” - Adrian’s final message to urge smokers to quit before it’s too late

Make Smoking History Ten Year Series

In May 2010 the Make Smoking History Campaign marked its ten year anniversary by reviving some of its most successful and hard-hitting advertisements which continue to drive home the many good reasons to quit.

Sugar Sugar

The ‘Sugar, Sugar’ campaign was first launched in September 2009 and re-aired in May and June 2010. Campaign advertising drew attention to the ingredients in cigarettes which are commonly used to make the product more palatable. The television advertisement featured a range of scenes depicting patients with various smoking-related diseases including laryngeal cancer, chronic bronchitis, emphysema and heart disease. The advertisement, set to the well-known song by The Archies, ‘Sugar Sugar’, finished with the words “additives such as sugar and honey can hide the bitter taste of tobacco but the damage cigarettes do can’t be hidden”.

The campaign aimed to encourage smokers to quit now to give themselves every chance for a healthy and happy future.

Who Will You Leave Behind?

The ‘Who Will You Leave Behind?’ campaign focused on the experiences, thoughts and emotions of family members left behind when someone dies from a smoking-related illness. The campaign was first launched in May 2009 and re-aired in February and March 2010. Television advertising featured Perth brothers, Luke and Ben Eliot, whose father Neil passed away in 2007 from smoking-caused lung cancer. Neil Eliot was just 52 years old when he died and missed meeting his first grandchild by only one month. He was a pack-a-day smoker from his late teens until his late 30s when he quit for eight years, only taking up the habit again due to the pressures of his work.

Everybody Knows

Make Smoking History launched the ‘Everybody Knows’ campaign in January 2009. The television advertisement was originally developed by Cancer Institute NSW in 2008 and features a montage of Australian anti-tobacco campaigns from the past decade.

The campaign focused on what everybody knows, but what some smokers still ignore. The minute-long advertisement finished with recognition that quitting smoking can be hard but help is available to break the habit for good. 

Smoke-Free Home and Car

In May and September 2007 Make Smoking History developed television and radio advertising which focused on protecting children from secondhand smoke, especially in the home and car. The campaign advised parents and carers of children that when they smoke, their children are smoking too. People were encouraged to make their home and car smoke-free to protect others from the dangers of their cigarette smoke, especially children.

Two radio advertisements specifically targeting Australian Aboriginal families complemented the television advertising. Well-known character Mary G, played by Mark Bin Bakar, featured in these advertisements.

Echo

The ‘Echo’ campaign, originally developed by Cancer Institute NSW, was launched by Make Smoking History in September 2006. The advertisement addressed the excuses smokers often use to justify their habit and delay quitting such as “I can’t go more than a few hours without a cigarette”, “you’ve got to die of something” and “I don’t think I can quit”. It then provided a striking portrayal of the consequences people may face by continuing to smoke.

Carrying the tagline “Quitting is hard. Not quitting is harder”, the ‘Echo’ campaign urged smokers to stop putting it off, and to quit smoking before it's too late.

Bubblewrap

Make Smoking History first launched the ‘Bubblewrap’ campaign in February 2005 and then again in May 2008. The campaign aimed to raise awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (including emphysema and chronic bronchitis), for which smoking is the most common cause.

Originally developed by Quit Victoria the campaign advertisement used bubble wrap to demonstrate the irreversible damage cigarette smoking can have on the tiny air sacs in the lungs. The main message was that every cigarette is damaging your lungs and quitting can make a big difference to your quality of life regardless of age or health

Don't Blow The Years Ahead

In March and July 2004 Make Smoking History launched a new campaign which specifically targeted smokers aged 45 to 64 years. Many smokers in this age group started smoking before the harmful effects were well understood, and for this reason they are significantly less likely than younger smokers to believe that smoking will harm their health. Many of these smokers believe the damage is already done and that it's too late to quit.

The television advertisement highlighted that smokers may have years ahead and if they keep smoking could risk a future of disability and diminished quality of life. The key message was that it’s time to make a positive commitment to a healthier future by quitting smoking.

Jenny

In February 2003 Make Smoking History launched a new campaign which told the story of Jenny, a 42 year old woman dying from terminal lung cancer caused by smoking. In 2003 the prevalence of smoking among young women remained higher than that of the general adult population. The campaign aimed to encourage these women to quit by promoting the message that it is never too early for cigarettes to cause damage.

Jenny, a mother of three, bravely told her story in a series of three television advertisements. Sadly Jenny died in December 2004

Recall

Make Smoking History aired the ‘Recall’ campaign (originally developed by Quit Victoria) in July 2002 and again in July 2005. Campaign television advertising featured satirist John Clarke impersonating an executive of a fictitious tobacco company. In the first advertisement he announced a complete cigarette recall “until we can guarantee the Australian public that our product poses absolutely no threat to your health”. In a second advertisement, John Clarke revealed he is not really a tobacco industry executive and that there is no national recall of tobacco products.

The advertising focused attention on the conduct of the tobacco industry, and was designed to target opinion leaders, the media and the wider community.

You Should Have Been There

In February 2002 Make Smoking History launched a campaign targeting parents who smoke, urging them to quit now to ensure they don’t miss out on important milestones in their children’s’ lives. The campaign promoted the messages that quitting is the best insurance a smoker can take out on their future with their family, there are great benefits to be gained from quitting and that it's never too late to quit.

The campaign television advertisement, developed by Quit Victoria and Quit South Australia, depicted a young girl talking to her Dad as he lies in his hospital bed on a respirator.  The girl recounts her day and it’s clear they both wish he could have been there to share it with her. The advertisement ends with the line “How will smoking affect your life?”

Didn't Listen

One of Perth’s leading cardiothoracic surgeons, Dr Mark Newman, urged smokers to quit while they still have a chance in Make Smoking History’s ‘Didn’t Listen’ campaign, which aired in May of 2001 and 2005.

The campaign television advertisement conveyed the grim realities of smoking and its consequences, driving home the importance of quitting smoking before it’s too late. It was set in a real operating theatre where Dr Newman removed a lung cancer tumour during an actual operation. He explained that when he tells his patients their smoking has led to lung cancer they feel profound regret and wish they had quit sooner.

Nice People But

In October 2000 the Target 15 Campaign (the previous name of the Make Smoking History Campaign) launched its first major television campaign ‘Nice People But’. The powerful advertisement conveyed the grim realities of smoking and its consequences. It featured real doctors, health professionals and counsellors who work at the front line treating diseases caused by smoking and carried the tagline “Nice people but you don’t want to meet them. Keep smoking and you just might”.

‘Nice People But’ received local and international recognition from the advertising industry and is the most highly awarded television advertisement ever created in Western Australia