Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”
(New York, NY and Moscow, Russia) – The Public Health Commission of Moscow City Duma launched a new mass media campaign today to warn millions of Russians about the personal harms of smoking and to urge them to quit. The campaign, called “Sponge”, which visually depicts how the lungs of smokers are like sponges that soak up cancer-causing tar, can be seen on TV and street and metro billboards across Moscow and Moscow Region.
In “Sponge,” a pair of hands is seen squeezing thick black tar from a sponge to illustrate the amount a pack-a-day smoker is exposed to every year. The campaign was developed with support from World Lung Foundation. It will run through the end of the year.
“Sponge”, was rigorously pre-tested among focus groups in Moscow. Originally created in Australia, the ad has already been aired as part of tobacco control campaigns in that country as well as in the U.S., India and China with measurable impact. The ad has now been adapted for Russia.
Sandra Mullin, Senior VP Communications, World Lung Foundation said, “Hard hitting, highly visual messages can motivate people to stop smoking. This campaign was rigorously tested among smokers in Moscow and uses a graphic approach to communicate that smoking can cause serious damage to people's lungs. We congratulate the Moscow City Duma for running this campaign and look forward to efforts to reduce the tobacco epidemic in Russia.”
Research has shown that mass media campaigns are one of the most effective means to encourage people to stop smoking. It is one of the World Health Organization's M-P-O-W-E-R (W=Warn) strategies to reduce tobacco consumption. MPOWER strategies are endorsed and promoted by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, of which World Lung Foundation is a principal partner.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of mortality in the world today, and is responsible for more than five million deaths each year – one in ten adults worldwide.